FBI Kate 1:HEARTKILL
by JadeiteFVR23
Summary: After the events of Yankee White Kate never showed up at NCIS to Gibbs's dismay. Five months later, during an investigation of what first appears to be just another driving accident, she turns up again but now as a member of the FBI. /AU/Case Fic/crime-humor-romance/Kibbs as main pairing, bits of McAbby and a hint of Tate/
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:**** NCIS and all it' characters belong to CBS and Bellisarius Productions. Story written for entertainment and learning purposes only.**

A/N: Huge thanks to aconline who was so kind to review the story. Your help was priceless dear.

Also my choice of time setting and pairing may appear strange, but probably not as much if you consider I got to watch NCIS only last year, and I admit I have a huge fondness for the early seasons.

* * *

><p><strong>HEARTKILL<strong>

* * *

><p><em>Thursday, September 25th 2003<em>

The tip of the pencil flew back and forth on the paper leaving behind graphite streaks that gradually formed the image of a man with a mischievous lopsided smile and a funny haircut. Eventually Caitlin Todd put her pencil down and stared at the sketchy face of the man she had met for the first time only a week before, but couldn't help thinking about.

NCIS Special Agent Gibbs was not a forgettable kind of person in the first place, but even if he were, she'd end up thinking about him anyway for one simple reason: right after she resigned from the Secret Service he had offered her a job. Unofficially, yes, but he still did. All she needed to do was file in the application that now sat in her bag and she knew he'd make sure she was accepted as part of his team.

It's been three days and she still couldn't make up her mind on what to do. She thought going to the park on a sunny afternoon and getting some fresh air would clear her mind, but it didn't seem to work. She was still as conflicted as before.

She needed a job and NCIS didn't seem so bad a workplace, but she wasn't so sure she could handle working so closely with Gibbs, not to mention being his subordinate.

She didn't worry that he'd be a bad boss, she had already followed his lead on the AFO case, but she was still a Secret Service Agent back then. They both had rights to the investigation which made them equals on some level and led to all the fighting that borderlined flirtatious bickering which, she had to admit, she greatly enjoyed. If she officially became a member of Gibbs's NCIS team, she could no longer afford such behavior, not if she wanted to keep her job.

She knew well enough from her own experience that sleeping or even flirting with coworkers was never a good idea. Hadn't it been for that, she wouldn't be unemployed right now, and she admitted Gibbs would've been right to kick her out of NCIS, if she tried anything funny.

She decided that, if she accepted Gibbs's offer, she'd do her best to behave, especially because she was aware that he was out of her league anyway. She realized that the moment she saw the classy redhead in the silver convertible pick him up at the airport and figured it must have been his girlfriend. On the other hand, she was aware of how hard it would've been for her to work closely with that man everyday, knowing he was out of her reach. If would be like having an alcohol addict work at a liquor store.

Kate took out the application out of her bag and stared at it. She'd better move fast, if she wanted that job. They wouldn't be waiting forever. She had to make her decision. If she only had a third option...

Suddenly a shadow came in front of her blocking the sunlight and a familiar scratchy voice asked:

"Thinking about applying to NCIS Agent Todd?"

"Agent Fornell!" gasped Kate surprised and quickly closed her sketchbook hiding the application form, and more importantly, Gibbs's portrait inside.

The FBI agent joined Kate on the bench and said:

"Rumor has it Gibbs literally snatched you from the Secret Service right after the Air Force Once landed in DC."

"And of what interest would that be to the FBI?"

"Let's say it's rather my own curiosity."

Kate laughed shortly and clarified:

"I quit the Secret Service for personal reasons, that I believe are none of your concern."

"And what about NCIS? Is it true you're on Gibbs's team now, Agent Todd?"

"Just Todd. Currently I'm not an agent, but it's true that Gibbs proposed I come work for him."

"And have you accepted?" Fornell wanted to know.

"I was on my way to file in my application."

"So you've decided already."

"I still could change my mind, if given a good reason." Kate tried to play it, suspecting Fornell didn't come to the park just to have a walk.

"How about I give you a counterproposal?" asked the FBI agent after a couple silent minutes.

"What kind of counterproposal?" Kate asked back.

Fornell just smiled and said:

"Have you ever considered working for the FBI, Miss Todd?"

**§§§**

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><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

_Sunday, February 8th 2004_

Gibbs ran across the deserted airport trying to catch up to a small brunette who was walking away fast paced.

"Kate, wait!" he shouted, but the woman was already disappearing in the morning fog.

Before the milky substance engulfed her completely, she turned and spoke those exact same words she had said on the night they met aboard AF29000:

"I won't defy a direct order. I'm sorry Gibbs"

"What are you talking about? What order?"

"Your order" she said and a second later she was gone.

He stopped and tugged at his hair in frustration. He felt exactly like when his exes were getting pissed off with him, and he couldn't figure out what the hell was their problem.

All of a sudden a loud strident sound cut the air and his surroundings began to fade before his eyes. A moment later Gibbs woke up in his basement under the ribs of his unfinished boat and realized the annoying noise was nothing else but the ringing of his cell phone.

"Yeah, it's Gibbs." he mumbled sleepily into the speaker. "Uh-huh. Got it. Be right there."

It was the office. A dead marine had been found crashed in his car on an interstate to Richmond. It appeared to be a drink and drive accident, but unless proven otherwise every death was investigated as murder.

Reluctantly Gibbs got up and sipping the cold remains of his coffee called DiNozzo.

"Hello?" he heard Tony's voice over the phone.

"Baby, who is it at this hour?" a female voice spoke up in the background.

"Am I interrupting something DiNozzo?"

"It's Sunday morning boss. What do you think?

"You'll have to skip the second round Tony. Gear up! We've got a case."

"On a Sunday?!" whined Tony.

"This week it's our turn to work the weekend. I'll see you at NCIS in half an hour."

"Yes boss! Be right there boss! And by the way, that would be more like the fifth round."

Gibbs just hung up on him and called McGee, who was a fairly new asset to his team. He was still green in field work, but a very valuable resource where technology was concerned and that alone was for Gibbs, who was a technological dinosaur, good enough a reason to keep him close.

Unlike Tony, McGee didn't dare to complain about being called to work at 0700 hours on a Sunday. He didn't even sound like someone who was just woken up and for a moment Gibbs wondered what was he up to so early. He shrugged the thought off though, figuring it was none of his business, and once McGee assured him he'd be there asap, he hung up and ran upstairs for a quick shower.

Standing under a jet of cold water Gibbs remembered his dream.

Kate Todd had been on his mind quite often since that night when he left her at the airport after the AFO case. He expected to see her at NCIS within a couple of days but she never showed up. He tried to figure out why she ignored his offer and the thought's been nagging him to the point of making him dream of her every other night.

The dreams were always in the same fashion. They'd meet on a case, just any case, sometimes the one he was working at the time. Afterwards he'd ask her to stay with him at NCIS, but she'd walk away without giving him any sort of explanation. He'd chase after her but she'd always vanish before he could catch her.

**§§§**

Gibbs parked the NCIS truck on the side of the road and jumped out followed by the two younger agents.

"McGee, photos! Tony, check the car! Don't touch the body before Ducky has a look at it," he ordered and scanned the surroundings in search of the ME. "Where is he anyway?!"

"I bet Gerald got them lost again!" shouted Tony from under the crashed car.

Gibbs just rolled his eyes annoyed and went to talk to the police officer and the woman who had reported the crush. She was on her way back to Richmond after spending a few days with her sister in DC when she spotted a car smashed into a tree by the road. She immediately called 911, didn't touch or move anything and didn't notice anyone around or anything unusual in general. When the police arrived and found out the victim was Navy, they decided to pass the case, which in their opinion was nothing but another drunk driving accident, to NCIS.

While Gibbs was talking to the police and Tony and McGee were processing the scene, Ducky finally arrived and rushed to examine the body of the dead marine.

"Time and cause of death Duck?" Gibbs asked the ME impatiently.

"Good God Jethro! I've barely arrived," groaned the doctor.

"The police says it was a drink and drive," said Gibbs matter of factly.

"His bruises appear to be consistent with a car crash," confirmed Ducky pointing to the cadaver, "and our dead fellow reeks of alcohol and vomit which would support that case scenario. I will not, however, express my full opinion on his cause of death until after the autopsy."

"What about the time?"

"I'd say he died sometime around 2 a.m this morning."

"Thanks Duck," said Gibbs and walked away to check the perimeter.

There were some skid marks on the road. Gibbs waved his hand at McGee to come and take a picture.

"Single trace in the direction of the crash point," observed McGee and seeing a hint of an approving smile on Gibbs face he continued: "The prints seem to match the tires of the crashed car, but we'll need Abby to confirm that."

Gibbs just nodded in agreement and called his other agent still hanging around the crashed vehicle.

"DiNozzo! You done with that car?!"

"Yes boss! Coming!" Tony shouted back and run to join them.

Gibbs gave him a questioning look.

"Nothing of value seems to be missing, " DiNozzo informed him. "Documents, cash, credit cards, mobile were all in place so we can rule out robbery."

"I didn't really suspect it," confessed Gibbs. "Did you check the car for signs of tampering?"

"Yes boss! Besides being smashed against the tree it seems to be in perfect working order."

"Physical evidence?"

"All bagged and tagged," announced Tony.

"Anything interesting?"

"Mostly vomit. Also found a pack of matches with a logo of a bar in Arlington. It would confirm he was driving back from a bender."

Gibbs just nodded and went to their truck and Tony and McGee followed. Ducky and Gerald were already gone with the body and the team who'd take care of getting the wreck to NCIS for further inspection has already arrived and gotten to work.

Gibbs hit the gas and the NCIS truck sped back to DC. With a little luck, Gibbs thought, they'd file this case by the end of the day.

**§§§**

Back in the HQ Gibbs ordered Tony and McGee to do a background check on the dead PFC and went for a coffee refill.

As his caffeine dealer busied himself preparing him a fresh dose of his drug of choice, Gibbs thought about the case at hand. All the evidence they gathered so far confirmed the drink and drive accident theory but he had a gut feeling that something was off, he just wasn't sure what it was yet.

A quarter later he entered the bullpen, a cup of steaming coffee in hand, hoping to get some answers.

"Talk to me!" he addressed his agents, dropping his coat on his desk and looking at the plasma.

"Our dead guy is PFC James Kattrall, age 27, born in Bethesda," Tony informed him putting up the man's driving license scan on the screen. "Joined the Marine Corps right after graduation and has been stationed at Norfolk Naval Base ever since. Never been deployed, he worked as a paper pusher."

"Criminal records?"

"None," McGee cut in. "Not even a parking ticket. He was a model citizen. I also pulled out his financial records but found nothing out of the ordinary. The last time he used his credit card was yesterday at a bar in Arlington."

"It looks like it really was a bender gone wrong boss," commented Tony.

"You think DiNozzo?"

"You don't boss?"

"He stayed in Norfolk so why would he go as far as Arlington just to get drunk?"

"I don't know boss."

"Well, find out!" barked Gibbs and went downstairs to check in with Ducky.

"What have you got Duck?" he asked entering the autopsy.

"Good to see you Jethro, I was just about to call you," said the ME. "It appears that this was no ordinary accident after all."

"He didn't die in the crash?"

"He most certainly did. The trauma he suffered on impact caused severe internal damage which resulted in his immediate death, but even if the crash never happened, this man would have died anyway within a day or two at most."

"How so?"

"My further examination of the cadaver revealed that PFC Kattrall had been poisoned. This reminds me of a very peculiar case I have heard of, when I was back in Scotland. A local farmer got accidentally poisoned with..."

"Duckyyyyy..." Gibbs rolled his eyes. "What was THIS guy poisoned with?"

"Well, that is for Abby to determine. I already sent her the samples for analysis."

"Thanks Duck!" Gibbs headed for the door. "Call me, if you find anything else."

"Of course Jethro!" called Ducky and turned back to the dead body of PFC Kattrall. "I'm sure you, my poor fellow, will find the story of the Scottish farmer interesting. The man had ingested poisonous seeds without knowing they were toxic. He kept on his usual daily activities for several hours before the poison started taking effect..."

As Ducky recounted his tale to his dead companion Gibbs got back upstairs.

"PFC Kattral was murdered. Poison," he announced.

"Poison is the murder method of choice for women," Tony observed.

"It would fit with what I found," said McGee and put up some images on the plasma. "PFC Kattrall had been dating a certain Amanda Johnson, age 25, lives and works at a flower shop in Arlington. According to Kattrall's roommate he went to see her this weekend."

"I called Norfolk and it turns out Kattrall was generally liked but recently was in conflict with a colleague, PFC Patrick Hues. According to rumors on base it was about a girl, and guess what, before transferring to Norfolk, Hues used to live in Arlington."

"Bring them both in for questioning," ordered Gibbs and went to the cafeteria to get a Caf-Pow! for Abby.

A few minutes later he entered the lab, drink in hand and was greeted by a deafening noise the goth called music and a chirpy 'Hey Gibbs!'.

"What have you got Abs?" he asked and before Abby could reply there was a triple beep.

"Perfect timing as usual my Silver Fox, I mean, boss," said Abby as her fingers danced on the keyboard. "I just got results from the samples I got from Ducky. There's evident traces of alcohol in his blood but look at this," she pointed to the screen. "There's also traces of andromedotoxin, acetylandromedol and rhodotoxin."

"In english Abs?"

"These are toxic compounds present in Azaleas and Rhododendrons, common flowering plants. All parts of these plants, especially the leaves and nectar are poisonous if ingested."

"How long for the poison to take effect?"

"First symptoms begin about six hours from ingestion."

"What kind of symptoms?"

"Stomach pain, abnormal salivation,vomiting, diarrhea, tremors," listed Abby.

"More than enough for a man to lose control of his car," noted Gibbs.

"I also found traces of alcohol on Kattrall's clothes and on the inside of his car. I think someone wanted him to look much more drunk than he actually was."

"Good work Abs!" he kissed the girl's cheek tenderly, shoving the Caf-Pow! into her waiting hands and headed for the door.

"Wait! I've got more!" Abby stopped him mid step.

Gibbs turned and rose his brows in question.

"I got a partial print from the matches box Tony found in the car and it doesn't match Kattrall's. Whoever left it, has never been printed cause I didn't get any hits from AFIS, but-"

"If I have a suspect you can compare his print to it," Gibbs finished the sentence for her and finally left the lab.

**§§§**

Later in the afternoon Tony and McGee drove to Arlington to check out the bar PFC Kattrall had been to shortly before his death.

When asked about Kattrall, the bartender couldn't give them a straight answer.

"You know, it's pretty crowded here on Saturday nights," he said apologetically. "You wouldn't expect me to remember everyone's name and face."

"He paid with a credit card," Tony tried to help him out.

"Half of the customers pay with credit cards," retorted the man.

"He was here around 8 p.m. and probably not alone," said McGee

"He may have been with her," Tony showed the bartender a picture of Amanda Johnson.

"No way. I would've remembered a hot little thing like her, but now that I think about it, I may recall seeing your man here yesterday. I wouldn't bet my life on it, but it could've been him."

"Was he alone?"

"He came in alone, I think, but later I saw him talk to one dude."

"Who?"

"Like I would know! Some dude!"

"Could you describe him?" Tony was getting impatient.

"He was just like any other guy."

"Age? Height? Build? Hair color?" McGee suggested.

"I would have taken the time to notice, had he been a woman."

Tony just rolled his eyes. He began to understand how Gibbs felt, when people wouldn't tell him what he wanted to know.

"Look guys, I really don't know. He sat in a far corner and I didn't really pay much attention to him. Perhaps Pam can help you."

"Who's Pam?" asked Tony.

"She's one of the waitresses. She worked that part of the bar last night."

"Can we talk to her?"

"She's coming in at 9 p.m. tonight but I could give you her address."

"That would be great."

Twenty minutes later the two agents rang the bell to Pamela Brown's apartment.

"Just a moment!" came a sleepy voice.

The second the door opened Tony's jaw dropped. In the doorframe there stood a plastic goddess worthy of a GSM cover page. She was very busty, very blonde and wearing only a pink satin vest.

"Hi, I'm Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo from NCIS. Could I ask you a few questions?" he said never bothering to introduce McGee as well.

"Sure," she purred scanning Tony from head to toe. "Come right in."

Tony entered the apartment with McGee sneaking in behind his back.

"How can I help you, Anthony?" asked Pam sitting on the couch and motioning for them to do the same.

"You can just call me Tony," offered DiNozzo flashing her a hungry smile. "I wonder if you remember seeing this man at the bar last night?" He showed Pam a picture of PFC Kattrall.

"Yeah, I think I saw him. He was with this weird older guy."

"Weird how?" inquired McGee.

"He acted all shy and kinda grumpy, and he was all dressed up. It wasn't a normal suit though, more like a uniform."

"What kind of uniform?"

"I don't know. He just had this blazer with all those little thingies attached to it." Pamela motioned over her chest to illustrate the badges placement and Tony's eyes followed lingering a bit too long over all the wrong places.

"Did it look like this?" Tony showed Pam a picture of Hues in his marine attire.

"The outfit looks kinda alike. This isn't the guy though."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. That was an older guy with gray hair."

"Would you come with us to NCIS to help create a facial composite?"

"I don't think I would be of much help." Pam looked down, sincerely sorry. "He wouldn't look up even when placing an order, so I never really saw his face."

"Don't worry about it. You've been of great help already." Tony put a hand on Pam's shoulder.

"One more question Miss Brown," said McGee. "Did you notice when did PFC Kattrall and the other man leave?"

"It must have been around 10 p.m., perhaps a bit earlier."

"Thank you for your cooperation miss Brown." McGee got up and headed for the door.

"Would you mind giving us your number?" asked Tony all of a sudden. "You know, so we can contact you in case we had more questions."

Pamela provided Tony with her cell number without objection and the two agents left. Walking to their car Tony suddenly broke into a laugh.

"What are you laughing about?" McGee wondered.

"The mystery guy. An old, grumpy, gray-haired marine." Tony chuckled. "Does it remind you of anyone Probie?"

**§§§**

Back in the Navy Yard Gibbs let Amanda Johnson into the conference room.

"Would you like some coffee?" he offered.

She nodded and Gibbs poured her a cup and sat in front of her.

"I still can't believe Jamie's dead," muttered the young woman looking sincerely shaken. "It's all my fault."

"Why do you say so?"

"Hadn't it been for me, he wouldn't have gotten drunk and had that accident," she sobbed. "He came to see me yesterday and we had a huge fight."

"What about?"

"He accused me of cheating on him."

"Did you?"

Amanda flashed the Special Agent a deathly glare.

"I never cheated on Jamie. I loved him," she declared firmly, "and I never gave him a reason to think otherwise. Still, about a month ago he started acting strange and it was getting worse by the day. He called me at weird hours, wanted to know where I was at any given time, tried to check my phone and mail."

"He was being possessive," Gibbs observed and Amanda nodded in agreement.

Getting rid of a possessive boyfriend gone nuts was not so bad a murder motive, Gibbs thought.

"I didn't understand why he was acting like this and the more I would ask him about it, the angrier with me he would get," Amanda continued. "Last night he came by my apartment and said he knew for sure I was having an affair with another man. When I denied, he just called me a liar and... and a slut and just rushed out of my place."

"What time was it?"

"He came in around 11 p.m. and left about an hour later."

"Where were you around 8 p.m. last night?"

"I was at home. Why?"

"Can anyone confirm that?"

"Agent Gibbs, is there something you're not telling me?"

For a long silent moment the two of them just stared into each other's eyes until finally Gibbs spoke, "PFC Kattrall's death wasn't accidental. He had been poisoned, the car crash was just a cover up."

"Oh my God!" exclaimed Amanda and covered her mouth in apparent shock.

"If he didn't crash his car, he would have died anyway from Azalea poisoning. Funny thing is, you happen to work at a flower shop."

"Wait! You think I did it?!"

"I don't know. Did you?"

"No!" Amanda shouted.

"Can anyone confirm you were at your apartment between 7 and 9 p.m. last night?" Gibbs repeated his previous question.

"No. I was alone, but I swear to God that I did NOT kill my boyfriend! I didn't even know he was dead until you called me in."

Gibbs didn't reply. He just fixed his penetrating blue eyes on her, trying to decide whether she was telling the truth.

"If you don't have any more questions, I'd like to go home now," Amanda said shakily.

Gibbs nodded and called for Agent Axelrod to escort Amanda out of the building. At the door of the conference room Amanda turned around and hissed:

"By the way Agent Gibbs, we don't have Azaleas in our shop."

When they were gone, Gibbs pulled a latex glove and a plastic bag from the interior pocket of his jacket, spilt the remains of the coffee into a nearby vase and bagged and tagged the cup.

He was on his way to Abby's when he noticed PFC Patrick Hues entering the bullpen and coming face to face with Amanda being escorted out. To his surprise the two greeted each other quite intimately and Gibbs made a mental note to ask Hues about the nature of their relationship.

He found Abby in her office with her nose glued to her computer screen.

"Hey Gibbs! Whatcha got for me there?" she asked spinning on her chair.

"Prints," said Gibbs passing her the evidence bag. "I want you to match them to the partial you found on the matches."

"Whose prints are they?"

"A few are mine I'm afraid. You'll have to separate them. The other set belongs to Amanda Johnson, the girlfriend."

"You think she killed him?"

"I would have, if she suspected him of cheating on her, but she claims it was the other way around."

"Kattral thought she cheated on him? Well, that would make sense."

"About what?"

"These." Abby put up on the plasma a set of photos.

Gibbs blinked in surprise and then gave the goth a questioning look. All of the pictures portrayed Amanda Johnson either in a lingerie set or fully naked.

"These are scans of the pictures I found in the interior pocket of Kattrall's jacket," Abby explained.

"Someone could have used them to prove Kattrall Amanda was cheating on him."

"But she probably wasn't," Abby sounded excited. "I ran some tests and I can assure you these photos are photoshopped. They're fake Gibbs!"

"It looks like someone really wanted these two to break up," Gibbs muttered to himself. "Any prints on those photos?"

"Only Kattrall's. Whoever gave them to him must have been wearing gloves, or if he didn't, he could have brought them in an envelope that Kattrall must have tossed away."

"Thanks Abs. I'll see you later. Check those prints for me." Gibbs headed for the door.

"And you get me a drink!" called Abby to his back.

Gibbs returned to the conference room this time to talk to PFC Hues.

"I'm Special Agent Gibbs." He extended his hand at the younger man who shook it eagerly.

"PFC Patrick Hues," he introduced himself. "How can I help you sir?"

"What can you tell me about your relationship with PFC James Kattrall?"

"We worked together at Norfolk. I suppose I could say we were friends."

"And what about Amanda Johnson? What is your relationship with her?"

"We too are friends," admitted Hues without a hint of hesitation. "We've known each other since we were kids. I grew up in Arlington and Amanda was the girl next door."

"Rumor has it you and PFC Kattrall had a conflict about a girl. About Amanda?"

"Yes, but it's not what you think sir," Hues replied. "Me and Amanda were like brother and sister. I was the one who introduced her to James and I was happy with them being together."

"So what was the conflict about?" inquired Gibbs.

"A month or so ago James started suspecting Amanda was cheating on him. He went crazy and Amanda would often just end up crying on my shoulder because of him. I couldn't stand seeing her suffer so I confronted James about it and it ended up in an open fight."

"Did Kattrall think Amanda was having an affair with you?"

"No sir. He knew well enough there never was anything but friendship between me and Amanda. He suspected somebody else."

"Who?"

"I don't know, and I don't think he did either."

"Would Amanda tell you, if there really was another man?"

Hues broke eye contact with Gibbs and stared at his hands. The Special Agent could tell he knew something and was considering whether to share the information or not.

"There was someone, wasn't there?"

"Not exactly sir," Hues said. "Amanda did not have an affair with anyone, but..."

"But what?"

"I think she may have been stalked. She told me she often felt watched and once she noticed someone hanging around her apartment, but he was gone before she could take a good look."

"We didn't find a stalking complaint," Gibbs pointed out.

"She never filed one," Hues replied. "In fact, she never told anyone but me about it, not even James."

"Why wouldn't she tell her boyfriend?"

"The stalking began pretty much the same time James started acting weird. At the beginning Amanda even though it could have been him following her, but I ruled out the possibility. Many of the stalking incidents happened when James was with me on base."

"Did she have any other suspects?"

"None that I would know of."

"One last question. Where were you last night around 0800 hours?"

"You think I poisoned James? For Amanda?" asked Hues incredulous and seeing Gibbs's questioning glance he added, "I met her at the elevator and she told me you found out James was murdered."

"Honestly, no, I don't suspect you, but it's a question I need to ask. It's part of the procedure," Gibbs replied.

"I went to a bar in Richmond. I met a girl. She can confirm my whereabouts around that time."

"Name and phone number, and also the name and address of the bar." Gibbs gave Hues pen and paper and the young marine wrote down the requested detail.

"That would be all for now PFC Hues. Thank you for your cooperation," said Gibbs and escorted the man out of the building.

**§§§**

_Monday, February 9th 2004_

The clacking sound of someone's fingers hitting the keyboard at incredible speed slowly woke Gibbs up. He popped his eyes open, straightened up in his chair and grabbed his coffee cup which, unfortunately for him, turned out to be empty.

Still half asleep he looked to his right. DiNozzo was gone but McGee was at his post, his eyes fixed on the computer screen. He was so absorbed in whatever he was doing that he didn't even notice his boss grabbing a clean shirt and an emergency toothbrush from his drawer and sneaking out to the men's room.

Splashing some cold water onto his face helped Gibbs wake up some more, but he wouldn't be at full charge until he had a dose of his 'medicine'. God, he needed coffee!

He, Tony and McGee stayed up until late last night trying to crack their case. When the two younger agents returned from Arlington, they all gathered up in the bullpen and shared all the information they had so far trying to make some sense out of it.

They had a dead marine who had recently been going crazy over the idea of his girlfriend cheating on him. The girlfriend, Amanda, had potential motive, no solid alibi and was a florist, which meant she could've known about Azalea plant toxic properties. Abby didn't match her print to the partial from the matches though, and according to eyewitnesses she never was at the bar where Kattrall must have been fed the poison. He had been seen there in the company of a man instead. It couldn't have been their other potential suspect, PFC Patrick Hues, because he didn't match the witnesses description and his alibi for the night checked out. So who was the mystery man from the bar? They needed to find that out as he was most likely their killer. The problem was, they hardly had anything on him, not a name, not a face, only a vague description that could fit just about anyone.

Gibbs returned to the bullpen and grabbed at his coat, intent on going for coffee when McGee's voice stopped him.

"Boss? I… I think I... I may have found something," the young agent stammered nervously.

"Yeah? What have you got?" asked Gibbs turning on his heel and coming over to McGee's desk.

"When I woke up this morning I got the idea to check if there have ever been any similar cases in the area," said McGee. "I cross-referenced drink and drive accidents with stalking complaints and ran it against the Maryland metro police database."

"Yeah. And?" rushed the boss, munching at some pizza leftovers from the previous night he spotted on DiNozzo's desk.

"Two years ago a man named Peter Walsh died in drunk driving accident on a road to Baltimore on February 8th," McGee stressed on the date. "In the month prior to that Baltimore PD received two stalking complaints. I made some calls and it turns out one of the women who filed a complaint, a certain Anna Stuart, was Walsh's fiancèe. It could be just a coincidence but-"

"I don't believe in coincidence," said Gibbs rubbing at his chin in thought. "Get me Anna Stuart's address McGee. I'll be right back."

"Um... boss?"

"What?!" Gibbs snapped. It was the second time this morning McGee was stopping him from getting his coffee.

"Anna Stuart was murdered one week after Walsh's death. Raped and strangled in her own apartment. The killer has never been found."

Gibbs squinted his yes in disbelief. The deeper they dug, the more complex their case was getting. It wasn't just a simple drink and drive accident anymore.

"Where's DiNozzo?" Gibbs looked around for his senior agent.

"I don't know boss."

"Find him!" barked Gibbs. "He used to work at Baltimore PD. Have him contact his old buds and ask for all the relative case files. I need to get some coff-"

"But boss!"

"What now?!"

"T...The c... case..." stuttered McGee, literally melting under Gibbs's deadly stare. "B... Baltimore had passed it over to... to..."

"To whom McGee?" whispered Gibbs terrifying the poor probie even more. A whispering Gibbs was far worse than a yelling Gibbs, and a coffee craving, whispering Gibbs was the worst of them all.

"To us," spoke a familiar voice Gibbs hadn't heard since the 'Seadog' case.

He turned around and found himself face to face with FBI Special Agent Tobias Fornell.

"What brings you to NCIS this time Tobias?" he said smirking.

"I'm here to take over your investigation," Fornell replied with calm and confidence.

"I see this time you brought backup too." Gibbs pointed to a couple Suits creeping at Fornell's back.

"I figured you wouldn't give up your case without a fight, so I thought I could use some," said the FBI agent with a hint of a smile and began to introduce his men.

"This is Agent Sachs," said Fornell as a tall, dark skinned man stepped up next to him and gave the NCIS agents a short nod. He then moved aside, letting up front a small brunette, so far unnoticed in the shadow of his massive figure.

"Gibbs," said Fornell with a malicious grin, "I believe you already know Agent Todd?"

"Hi Gibbs," said Kate simply and looked up to meet his eyes.

Gibbs didn't reply. He just stared at her in surprise and disbelief, watching a light blush creep up her cheeks as she held his gaze bravely.

From his post at his desk McGee followed the entire scene in confusion. His eyes darted from the equally lost Agent Sachs to Fornell, looking like a cat who just ate the canary. to the lovely Agent Todd, who blushed like a shy teenager, and finally to his boss, who just stood there like a statue apparently at a loss for words.

McGee thought of Tony not being there and grinned. He could just imagine his face, when he would tell him he missed a one-time opportunity to witness Gibbs going speechless.

**§§§**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: NCIS and all things related are property of DP Bellisario and CBS.**

* * *

><p><strong>HEARTKILL<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

As soon as Gibbs regained his ability to speak, which didn't take him long, he and Fornell headed upstairs to meet up with director Morrow and the director of the FBI over the satellite and discuss their current situation. None of the Senior Agents was eager to give up their case to the other party which meant another fight for jurisdiction between the FBI and NCIS.

Down in the bullpen the younger agents engaged in loose conversation.

"You're new here, aren't you?" Kate addressed McGee.

"Yeah, I transferred from Norfolk a couple months ago. By the way, I'm Timothy McGee," he introduced himself to the suits.

"Caitlin Todd. You can call me Kate," said the girl shaking his outstretched hand.

Agent Sachs didn't bother to share his given name. Apparently he didn't feel much like socializing. He hung aside stiff and stern and fairly silent.

Kate instead, McGee noticed, wandered around the bullpen as if she were familiar with the place and he figured she must have been there before.

"And where's DiNozzo?" Kate asked all of a sudden. "Did Gibbs finally kick his ass out of NCIS?"

"Look over there and tell me whatcha see." McGee pointed to the desk in front of his.

Kate squinted her eyes suspiciously but did as asked.

"Hmmm... cold pizza leftovers... ewww... a GSM magazine hid between case files and... " Kate inspected a piece of red lace popping out of the bottom drawer. "Is that a thong?"

"It probably is," McGee giggled at Kate's disgusted expression.

"Looks like DiNozzo still works here."

"Oh yeah, he just went to get some more food or something."

As on cue, the elevator door binged and Tony came in and he instantly noticed they had visitors. He had no clue on who the guy was, but as soon as the woman turned to face him, he exclaimed, "Look at who's here! Secret Service Kate!" He opened up his arms as if expecting she'd come over and hug him. "Long time no see! How's the president doing?"

"I wouldn't know as I'm no longer in the Secret Service." She showed Tony her new badge.

"FBI?" said Tony surprised. "When did you move to them?"

"Right after the Air Force One incident."

"Why didn't you come to us? Gibbs scared you off?"

"No, I just really didn't want to get stuck working with you," she said with a cocky smile.

Tony didn't buy it. He was good enough an investigator to notice how she turned slightly red at his comment about Gibbs. He then brought to mind his boss's unusually good mood in the few days following the Air Force One case and how quickly it expired leaving him even grumpier than before. There was only one reasonable conclusion to all of that: something had happened on that flight and Tony swore to find out or die trying.

"You never mentioned having friends at NCIS Todd," observed Agent Sachs from his post in the back. It was the first time he spoke since he stepped into the squad room.

"Yeah, how did you get to know Gibbs and Tony?" asked McGee curiously drawing the attention back to Kate.

"We met on a case a few months ago. I was working at the Secret Service back then," Kate explained.

"Katie here tired to kick us out of Air Force One..." Tony told McGee.

"Technically it wasn't Air Force One anymore," she cut in, "and don't call me 'Katie'!"

"... but Gibbs showed her who's balls and she ended up helping us out," continued Tony, ignoring Kate's comment. "Before that happened though, she put up quite a fight! Just imagine that Probie: this cute little thing standing up to the big boss."

"That must have been precious, but I got something better!" McGee was about to pull out the ace from the hole. "Imagine this 'cute little thing', as you put it, getting our big badass boss totally speechless."

"No way!" exclaimed DiNozzo.

"I saw it with my very own eyes," McGee grinned with satisfaction. "She just said 'Hi' and he turned into stone."

"I can't believe I missed that!" wailed Tony. "Why didn't you record it or something McGenius?!"

"Hey! Stop talking about me as if I wasn't even here!" Kate cut in annoyed.

"By the way Kate, why are you here actually?" asked DiNozzo.

"We came to take over your case," Sachs told him.

"Why would the FBI want our case?"

"They handled a similar one in 2002," McGee said

"We think PFC Kattrall is another victim of a serial killer the FBI has been tracking for some time now," Kate explained

"Two victims don't make a serial killer yet," Tony argued.

"Three or more do," retorted Fornell coming down the stairs, followed by Gibbs.

"How many exactly are we talking about?"

"Seven, if we count up Kattrall." This time it was Gibbs who answered Tony's question.

Kattrall's was the only death they had investigated, which meant FBI had hold of the remaining six. It would've only been reasonable if they claimed their case as a part of their larger investigation instead of the other way around, and yet the outcome of the jurisdictional debate turned out to be another, to everyone's surprise.

"We agreed on a joint investigation," Fornell announced. "NCIS will get full operational freedom."

"I can't believe this!" Tony laughed. "How did you do it boss?"

"Three years and they still don't have their guy," pointed out Gibbs amused. "At this point they would've been stupid not to accept our help"

"Where's the catch?" Tony just didn't buy it.

"FBI gets full credit for catching the killer."

"I should've known!"

"Okay people! The chitchat ends up here! We've got work to do! Chop chop!" Fornell clapped his hands. "Agent Sachs," he addressed his male agent, "you and I are coming back to the office to pull out all the relative case files and material evidence. NCIS wants to reexamine everything we've got so far in case we missed something. Agent Todd..."

"Yes?"

"I thought I'd let Gibbs borrow you for some time. I owe the man that much for stealing you for the FBI from right under his nose," Fornell said looking up to Gibbs, who just clenched his jaw at the provocation.

Tony and McGee exchanged curious glances.

"I need you to remain here Agent Todd," Fornell continued. " You will be our liason with NCIS. Have them read you in about the Kattrall case. I want a full report on my desk by the end of the day."

Kate just nodded in agreement, but despite her efforts to keep a straight face everyone could tell she wasn't exactly happy about the arrangement.

"Relax Todd," said Fornell noticing her nervousness. "Gibbs barks a lot but he doesn't bite."

"Unless somebody likes that!" Tony joked back, which earned him a headslap from Gibbs, but at least the mood in the squad room lightened up.

Leaving the bullpen followed by Sachs, Fornell was still chuckling. He and Gibbs were on friendly terms, but he couldn't deny himself the fun of getting on his nerves from time to time.

Left behind by her colleagues, Kate asked for a desk she could work at.

"You can use that one." Gibbs pointed to the nearest unused desk situated right in front of his own and then he grabbed his coat and headed out.

"Where's he going?" Kate asked surprised.

"For coffee," explained McGee. "He hadn't had one yet today. That's why he's so grumpy,"

"Well, grumpier than usual," Tony clarified.

"The man can't function without coffee."

"He's addicted. His blood type is caffeine."

"I once spilled his coffee by accident," McGee remembered with evident terror. "He barely spoke to me for the rest of the day."

"That's cause you broke a crucial rule McClumsy!"

"What rule?" Kate asked.

"Rule 23: never mess with a marine's coffee," Tony explained.

"He's a marine?"

"Former, but the rule still applies."

The familiar 'bing' sound followed by a 'Hey, Agent Todd!' interrupted their conversation. Gibbs was at the elevator holding the door open and waving at Kate to come over. She threw a nervous glance at Tony and McGee, who made clueless faces and rushed her to follow their boss.

Kate quickly walked to the elevator and gave Gibbs a questioning look.

"Did you have coffee today Agent Todd?" he asked.

"No, I didn't have time to have one yet," she replied feeling a bit confused.

"I'm going to get some. Wanna tag along?"

"Tony and McGee were just about to read me into the case."

"I'll read you in."

"At a coffee shop?" Kate gave him a doubtful look.

"Come on Kate! I'm buying," he finally offered and flashed her a small smile.

Kate laughed shortly and entered the elevator and Gibbs followed.

"Did you see that, Probie?" said Tony, as Gibbs and Kate were disappearing behind the elevator's closing doors.

"Yeah," muttered McGee "It looks like he asked her to go for coffee with him."

"That's not normal."

"Hey guys!" came Abby's chirpy voice as she entered the bullpen. "Where's Gibbs? Can't reach him on his cell"

"Perhaps his battery died and he didn't notice?" McGee suggested.

"Yeah, he was distracted with other things," added Tony with a grin.

"What other things?" Abby had no idea what they were on about.

"Abs, remember Kate? You know, that chick from the Secret Service we met on the AFO case a few months back?" Tony asked her.

"Sure I remember her. She got the boss to say 'pleeeease'," Abby giggled at the memory.

"Well, she's with the FBI now and they're working with us on the Kattral case."

"She's here?" Abby sounded excited.

"She was," McGee informed her. "She went out for coffee with Gibbs."

"Oh-oho! Really?" Abby chuckled.

"Why are you laughing like that?" Tony looked her up dumbfounded.

"Come on Tony! Don't you tell me you never noticed anything."

"Like what?!"

Abby gave Tony the 'you know what I mean' look.

"Seriously?! Kate and Gibbs?!" Tony appeared outraged by the mere idea.

"It would explain why they acted so weird around each other this morning," McGee pointed out.

"Okay, I admit there's something going on between these two, but I don't think it's THAT kind of something," Tony argued. "I mean, come on! He's too old for her and she's not a redhead!"

"You know, she kinda has those copper highlights," McGee observed.

"It doesn't make her a redhead McHairdye!"

"But what about that thing Fornell said? That he STOLE Kate from Gibbs?"

"Wow! What the hell does that mean?" asked Abby intrigued.

"I bet it doesn't mean what the two of you think it does!" Tony snorted, then continued in a pondering tone, "This must be about something that happened during the Air Force One flight back to Washington. Unfortunately there's nobody we could ask about it cause Gibbs went alone on that one."

"Hmmm... I think there's one person who may actually know something," said Abby thoughtfully. "Come on guys!"

A couple minutes later the goth and the two agents walked into autopsy.

"Duckyyyyyyy!"

"Abigail! And oh," the ME noticed the two men, " Tony and Timothy!"

"Hi Ducky!"

"What brings you all here my dear friends?"

"Well, Gibbs is gone for coffee so we thought we'd come visit since we don't really have anything better to do," lied Tony.

"I, on the contrary, was just about to cut into this poor fellow that Agent Pacci brought to me this morning. It appears he had been beaten to death which reminds me of a very fascinating case that I had worked on a few years ago..."

"Ducky, do you remember Kate?" Abby interrupted the doctor who was just about to start another one of his famous tales.

"Kate?"

"You know, the girl from the Secret Service that we thought Gibbs had a slight crush on?"

"Oh that Kate! Yes, of course I remember her! I must admit I grew quite fond of her during that case we worked together. She was a very charming young lady. But why are you asking me about her?"

"She's gonna be working with us," Tony told the ME.

"Oh! That's fantastic! It was about time she showed up!"

Abby, Tony and McGee exchanged confused glances which went unnoticed by the doctor who just kept on talking.

"Jethro must be very glad she had finally decided to accept his offer. He always knew she would've made an excellent agent, but when he asked her to join NCIS, he expected it would've taken her a few days, not months, to make up her mind about it. I still remember how disappointed he was when a couple of weeks passed and she didn't turn up, and to be honest, I was quite disappointed myself as I was looking forward to seeing her again..."

"Ducky, when did Gibbs ask Kate to come work here?" Abby inquired

"He did it as soon as he learned she had resigned from the Secret Service. It was right after Air Force Once landed in DC. Didn't he tell you?"

"No, he didn't," said Tony, surprised.

"He must have been waiting for her to accept first before telling you. Well, he will need to do so now."

"Ducky, I hate to tell you this but Kate didn't accept."

"But you said..."

"We're working the Kattrall case with the FBI. She turned out to be with them."

"Oh my!" The ME's expression became concerned and the three of them understood right away that he worried about how Gibbs could've reacted to the news.

"Gibbs took it just fine Ducky," Tony comforted the doctor.

"Yeah, he was just a little... surprised, that's all," McGee added.

"Duck, we'd better go now," Tony said pulling McGee by the shoulder. "Gibbs may be back from coffee anytime."

"By all means, go back to your work," Ducky dismissed them. "Oh! And when you see Caitlin, please tell her to come down and say 'hello'."

"We will!"

Abby, who remained in autopsy, bent over to level up with the doctor and said confidentiall, "He asked her to go for coffee with him."

"Oh!"

"Yeah, I also think he still likes her."

"But this is Gibbs we're talking about. Even if he does he will never admit to that."

**§§§**

The short elevator ride and a two blocks walk to 'the only place around here where they make decent coffee', as Gibbs had put it, passed in relative silence.

Kate felt embarrassed in Gibbs presence, like a child who broke something of value, hid the shards under the couch, but now was finally found out. She couldn't help but wonder if Gibbs hated her for refusing his offer in favor of the FBI. But if he did, would he have offered to buy her coffee?

Kate couldn't know Gibbs's thoughts revolved around the same topic. He couldn't help but feel disappointed, hurt even, by Kate's choice of the FBI over NCIS. He realized he had no right to chew her out for making that decision, and yet he needed to talk to her about it. He just needed to know 'why?'.

"Morning Agent Gibbs!" the barista greeted his top customer. "The usual?"

"Yeah, one black for me and... " Gibbs gave Kate a sharp glance, "... another one with milk and sweetener?"

Kate nodded approvingly. How the hell would he know how she liked her coffee?!

"Who's the lovely lady?" asked the barista, glancing curiously at Kate as he prepared the drinks. "New girlfriend?"

"No," replied Gibbs shortly and gave his patented glare to the bartender who shut up on the spot.

"We just work together on a case," Kate explained. "Agent Gibbs was so nice to show me where I can get good coffee around here." She flashed the man an encouraging smile and he cheered up a little.

Once they got their drinks Gibbs led them to an empty table in the far corner of the shop.

Kate took a sip of her coffee and frowned slightly.

"It's a bit strong," she said seeing Gibbs raise up his brows questioningly.

"Strong is better," he said and took a long sip of his own.

They just sat drinking their coffee in silence for a couple of minutes while Gibbs tried to figure out how to ask Kate about her decision to join the FBI. Eventually he decided to approach the topic with humor, hoping the slightly mocking tone would cover up for how important this conversation was to him. He'd rather die than let Kate know that he cared.

"So Kate, why the FBI?" he asked, a hint of laughter in his voice. "Did they offer you twice the money?"

Kate choked on her drink, surprised by the sudden question. She should've known the coffee thing was just an excuse to drag her out of the squad room to discuss her career choices without McGee and DiNozzo eavesdropping.

The profiler in her attentively studied the man in front of her, his relaxed pose, his amused smirk. He wanted her to believe he didn't give a damn about it all and was asking just to make small-talk, but Kate knew better. He needed answers and she would gladly provide him with some.

Deep down she knew she had taken the right decision and was set on defending it, and with a little bit of luck Gibbs would see the logic of her actions as well.

"I suppose FBI pays me just as much as any other agency would," she finally replied trying to sound matter of factly.

"Then what do they have that we don't?" he inquired using the same humorous tone as before.

At first, she wanted to say simply 'Nothing', but before the word left her mouth she remembered why did she really choose the FBI over NCIS, and she changed her mind.

"It's not about what they have," she said with a mischievous smile. "It's about what they don't have"

"And what don't they have?"

"You."

"Me?!" Gibbs's brows rose an inch in utter surprise and then he burst into a sincere laugh. "Seriously Kate? Am I really that scary to you?"

"That's not what I meant," she rectified. She still couldn't believe she'd been so bold, but during the AFO case she'd learned subtle allusions didn't seem to work with Gibbs.

"What did you mean then?" he asked curiously leaning over the table and crossing eyes with her.

Staring back at him Kate had a flashback of their fight aboard AF29000. Almost five months had passed since then, but seeing his lips curled up in that lopsided smile of his and his beautiful blue eyes filled with humor and dare, just like they had been back then, Kate had been confirmed her plan to maintain the qui pro quo between them had worked.

He was still the same cocky NCIS jerk that took over Air Force One, that sat at her side when she was sick, that mocked her and ordered her around, that held her in his strong arms to help her calm down, and even if she wore an FBI badge now, she was still the same badass girl that constantly objected him, that let him join her on a Presidential flight, that threatened to shoot him and that broke up with a young, handsome Naval Officer just so she wouldn't feel guilty about trying to attract his attention.

"It's all your fault if I ended up with the FBI," said Kate with a mock accusation.

"How would that be my fault?" retorted Gibbs in a similar tone. "I asked you to come to work for NCIS not FBI!"

"Oh! It's not about WHAT you asked, but HOW you asked it," she pointed out.

"Why? How did I ask you?" he played dumb with her.

"Not very nicely." She squinted her eyes in fake anger. "You said, and I quote, 'pull that crap at NCIS and I won't give you a chance to resign'."

"You remember it word by word?"

"That single sentence's been tormenting me for three days."

"Really Kate?" Gibbs appeared somewhat disappointed. "This is why you didn't want to come work for me? Because you thought you couldn't keep from hooking up with with a coworker?"

"I knew it would've been hard not to. I joined the FBI to avoid temptation."

"DiNozzo really that irresistible?" Gibbs sneered.

"Who said anything about DiNozzo?" Kate retorted.

Gibbs didn't reply. He just stared at her with those piercing blue eyes of his as if trying to x-ray her thoughts.

Kate couldn't hold his scrutiny for long, feeling a wave of heat creep up her cheeks again. She grabbed her cup, got up from her chair and rushed for the exit.

A second after the words had left her mouth all her bravery was gone and all of a sudden she felt embarrassed by her own behavior, and yet she couldn't help but grin widely in vengeful satisfaction at the thought that she'd just given Gibbs something to ponder about.

**§§§**

"Haha! I was right again, Probie!" DiNozzo exclaimed with glee.

He and McGee were back in the squad room. Lucky for them, Gibbs and Kate hadn't come back from their coffee break yet, so they could comfortably discuss what they'd learned from Ducky.

"I told you there was no secret affair! They were being weird around each other because Kate turned down Gibbs's job offer. It must've driven him nuts."

"I don't see how the job offer thing rules out a potential romance between them," McGee objected

"Drop it McCupid!" fumed Tony throwing McGee a glare almost as deadly as Gibbs's.

"You like her!" yelped McGee as realization struck him all of a sudden.

"No I don't!"

"Yes, you do!"

"Okay, I do."

"Isn't she a bit old for your taste?"

"She's more or less my age."

"Exactly!"

"Well, she's still pretty hot and smart too, perhaps a bit uptight, but I bet that under that good girl facade there hides a sexual volcano. " Tony closed his eyes and lost himself in his private fantasy. "She must be like a hard candy with a liquid center. Oh, I can just imagine her shrugging off that suit to reveal a set of red lace lingerie and..."

A hard slap to the back of his head brought Tony back to reality.

"One more word DiNozzo and I will stick my boot so high up your ass... " hissed Gibbs, giving Tony one of his best deadly glares.

"Sorry boss! Won't happen again boss!"

"No, it won't."

"Boss, Abby's been looking for you," said McGee in an attempt to distract Gibbs from poor DiNozzo. "She said she couldn't reach you on your cell."

"I bet she couldn't," said Gibbs gruffly looking at the dead screen of his mobile.

He hated all things technological, and he hated them even more when the damn crap wouldn't work for no apparent reason.

"Here! Reboot that or something!" he barked throwing the phone to McGe. "I'm going to check with Abby. In the meantime the two of you..."

"...fill Kate in about the Kattrall case," Tony finished for him. "We're right on it!

Gibbs just nodded and left for the lab. As soon as he was gone, Tony jumped to Kate's side, remote in hand.

"So Kate, how was coffee with the big boss?" he asked putting up some crime scene photos on the plasma.

"It was fine. Why?"

"He fed you that liquid drain cleaner he calls coffee, didn't he?"

Kate's expression said it all.

"How about tonight after work I take you to a place where they serve something more to your liking?" Tony proposed flashing her his best gigolo smile. "Perhaps some italian, with a bottle of red wine? What do you say Katie?"

"Forget it," she said remembering the red thong sticking out of his drawer.

Tony was one hell of a good looking guy, there was no denying that, but with his juvenile behaviour and his dubious respect for women he just wasn't her type.

"Tony?" McGee cut in. "Do we have any more of those spare mobiles? Looks like this one isn't just out of charge. It's completely dead and I can't even figure out why."

"Geez, what did Gibbs do with it this time?!" whined Tony, rummaging through the drawers. "Smashed it against the wall? Shot it? Drowned it in his coffee?"

Noticing Kate's puzzled expression, McGee confirmed, "He would totally do that."

"Ha! There it is!" Tony exclaimed happily handing McGee a brand new Motorola box. "It's our last one. We should get some more before it goes out of production."

"Ekhm, guys?" Kate asked for attention. "Will you finally read me into your case? I have a report to file by the end of the day."

"Kate's right Tony, we should get to actual work before Gibbs comes back."

"I was working before you distracted me McMobile!"

"I don't think Gibbs would consider hitting on Kate work."

"Quit it you two!" Kate interrupted their heated exchange. "Photos, plasma, case, now!"

"On it bo-, I mean, Kate." Tony looked at her in terror. "One hour alone with Gibbs and you already sound like him. That's unnerving!"

Kate just gave him an annoyed look.

"Okay, okay, here you go. Our dead man is PFC James Kattrall, age 27, found crashed in his car around 0700 Sunday morning..."

**§§§**

"Hey Gibbs! How was coffee with Kate?" cheered Abby as a ding of the elevator announced the arrival of her favorite Special Agent.

"You got something for me Abs?" Gibbs ignored the goth's question.

"In fact, I do," announced Abby but then squinted her eyes mischievously and said, But you need to answer my question first"

"Abbyyyy..." Gibbs warned her.

"Okay, we'll talk about this later." Abby gave up for the moment and walked to her table stashed with evidence. "The first time I checked Kattrall's car I was just looking for possible signs of tampering and didn't focus much on the rest of it, but then I remembered the smell of alcohol that was supposed to make us think Kattrall was really drunk. Whoever spilled the booze inside the car must've been very close to it which means..."

"They may have left some evidence."

"Exactly!" Abby grabbed a small container from the table. "I went over the car again, this time very thoroughly and... I found a fibre that could have been left by our killer."

Abby walked back to her desk and hit a few keys.

"According to Major Mass Spec it's synthetic and dyed a rather uncommon golden yellow shade. I did some digging and it turns out this kind of fiber is most commonly used for the golden decorative patterns on the epaulettes and the sleeves in uniforms."

"The waitress from the bar in Arlington said the guy Kattrall was with wore one," Gibbs said. "Do we know what kind of uniform it belongs to?"

"It could be just about any, it doesn't even need to be Navy. I can only tell you for sure that it doesn't belong with PFC Kattrall's outfit."

"Anything else in the car?" Gibbs asked.

"A lot of things: several fingerprints, most of them Kattrall's, and a few partials in the backseat belong to Amanda. There was also some blonde hairs, a tiny piece of latex and traces of organic material in there..." Abby giggled.

"I guess the evidence speaks for itself," Gibbs chuckled.

"Oh yeah! I'll run the tests just to be sure, but I think Kattrall and his girlfriend have been very naughty!"

"Abby, this doesn't really help me much."

"Among all the garbage I found in that car, the golden fiber is actually the only thing that could be of any relevance," said the lab tech apologetically. "Our guy was very careful not to leave traces."

"Give the man some credit Abs, it's not his first kill."

"Practice makes perfect which makes me wonder..."

"... had he been so meticulous the first time around?"

"My thoughts exactly."

"The FBI is passing us their case files and all the relative material evidence. I need you to reexamine it. Look for anything that could give us a clue on this guy's identity. We've gotta find him before he kills again which is probably in less than a week."

"Gibbs, the FBI didn't get any closer to him in three years." There was a hint of resignation in Abby's voice.

"Yeah, but the FBI doesn't have you!" Gibbs said with confidence and pecked her on the cheek.

"Here!" He placed a Caf-Pow! in her hands and headed out of the lab.

"Gibbs!Gibbs!Gibbs!" Abby stopped him at the door.

Gibbs turned around and gave her a questioning look.

"You didn't reply to my earlier question," Abby reminded him.

Gibbs just rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"My coffee was black as usual, hers was with milk."

"This is not what I was asking!"

"There's nothing else to tell."

"Come on Gibbs!" Abby wasn't about to give up easily. "The last time I saw you and her in the same room I could literally smell the pheromones floating around."

"Phero-what?!"

"Pheromones Gibbs! There was some serious chemistry going on between the two of you. Ducky noticed it too."

"Abby!" Gibbs took her by the arms and looked her directly in the eyes. "Kate and I just needed to clear up a professional issue and so we did. End of story."

Having said that Gibbs let go of Abby and left the lab.

"You should ask her out Gibbs!" Abby shouted to his back as it disappeared behind the door.

**§§§**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: NCIS and all things related are property of DP Bellisario and CBS.**

* * *

><p><strong>HEARTKILL<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

After lunch the FBI came back in bringing all the relative case material. Fornell was also supposed to give them a short sitrep, and for this reason a large table had been arranged for them in the evidence garage. Around it there sat the FBI agents along with Gibbs's team, and also Abby and Ducky.

Fornell placed himself at the head of it and addressed the others, "This case has been worked by another agent and was passed to my team only recently, when we learned NCIS was investigating the death of a possible seventh victim. Apparently the Director believed my... ehm... past experience with NCIS would come useful."

"I bet he did," commented Gibbs with a smirk, but Fornell ignored him.

"I will pass you all the info my team was given when we took over the case. However, you'll need to do some digging yourselves for more precise detail." Fornell indicated the file boxes sitting on the table.

"We will," Gibbs nodded and rushed Fornell to start.

"In the past three years our man has killed a total of six people," began the FBI Agent. "He targets couples, one per year. His MO is always the same: he stalks the woman without ever approaching her fully but he makes his presence known, he first kills the man by poisoning him with Azalea plant toxin, then he arranges for what should appear like a drunk driving accident and exactly one week later he rapes and strangles the woman. His choice of time for the murders is also quite peculiar. Each year he kills the man on February 7th and the woman on February 14th."

"A V-day killer! That's so creepy!" Abby commented excitedly. "It's totally like in that movie, you know, the one about the teenagers... "

Fornell gave her a look Gibbs himself would be proud of.

"That's so not important," she mumbled and hid behind Tony.

"The first two victims were Jimmy Moore and Alicia Baker from Philadelphia," continued Fornell. "They were both 25 when they died in February of 2001.

"Moore was found crashed in his car on a road outside town. The investigation handled by the local PD confirmed he liked to get a drink or two after hours and that he had had one the night he died. They didn't dig any deeper and quickly filed the case as a drink and drive accident.

"A week after the crash Moore's girlfriend, Alicia Baker, was strangled in a motel room. According to the ME she had sexual intercourse before she died, but in his opinion, it wasn't rape. During the investigation it turned up Baker was seeing another man behind Moore's back. They suspected he could've been their killer but they never found him and the case went cold.

"The second couple was from Baltimore. Peter Walsh, age 27, died in a car crash but the autopsy revealed he had also been victim of Azalea poisoning. The investigators theorized the poisoning was accidental as there was no solid evidence that would suggest murder. A week later though, his fiancée, Anna Stuart, age 23, was found raped and strangled in her apartment in Baltimore. In the month prior she filed a stalking complaint and the police suspected the stalker may have also been her killer.

"One of the detectives on the Stuart case had worked at Philadelphia PD the previous year and he made the connection between the four deaths. At this point the FBI took over the investigation of what has become an interstate serial killer case.

"One year later we were still empty handed and in the meantime the killer struck again. A woman named Patricia Miller was raped and strangled during a Valentine's Day party in Annapolis. We immediately took over the case and found out she was being stalked prior to her death but never filed an official complaint. Also her boyfriend, Michael Perry, died in a car crash on a deserted road outside town exactly one week before. The body got completely burned in the explosion due to the crash so the poisoning could not be confirmed with hundred percent certainty, but the FBI had no doubts about his death not being accidental.

"All of the victims were civilians, none of them worked for the Navy or had any connection to it whatsoever. None, besides your dead Marine."

"Yeah, PFC James Kattrall, age 29, stationed at Norfolk," Gibbs took over. "Died in a car crash close to Richmond on the night of February 7th just like the other men. He was most certainly poisoned which was likely the reason for him to go off road."

"Kattrall's girlfriend, Amanda Johnson, age 24, from Arlington, has also been stalked. She never mentioned it herself but we learned of it from their common friend, PFC Patrick Hues. According to the emerging pattern she is the killer's next designated victim."

"The FBI will put her under protective detail," Fornell offered. "I will have an agent watch her at all times and will arrange for increased security measures on the 14th."

"Keep the security as discreet as possible," Gibbs recommended. "If we can't manage to figure out who's our guy by Saturday, our best chance to get him will be during his attempt to kill Amanda, but if he notices she's being watched over, he may not want to take the risk."

"Honestly, I hope it won't come to that," Fornell sighed.

"We'll do our best so it doesn't," Gibbs assured him and then asked, "What do you have on the killer?"

"Not much, unfortunately. He's been very careful not to leave evidence behind, and the fact that the first four kills were handled by the local PDs and investigated from a different angle doesn't help either. According to our findings he may be an older guy with grey hair and wearing a uniform of some sorts. He could be Military or Navy for that matter."

"We found out as much ourselves," snorted Tony.

"Well, this is the most we can tell you about him," Fornell replied to the comment, "but please, feel free to double check everything we've got. Hopefully, you'll notice something that slipped from the FBI."

"We will," Gibbs said and Fornell wondered whether he meant they will double check or that they will find something.

"Abby!" Gibbs directed his first order to the forensic scientist. "I need you to go through all the evidence."

"It's a lot of stuff. I could use some help with that," Abby said. "Perhaps Kate..."

"No," Gibbs objected, already suspecting what the goth had really on her mind. "I'd like Kate go through the case files with Tony." He turned towards the two agents. "Focus on the family and friends statements. See if you can pull out anything that would provide us with any further detail on our killer."

"On it boss!"

"You've got it Gibbs."

"McGee!"

"Yes, boss?"

"You go help Abby."

"I'm on her boss! I mean... on IT! I'm on IT!"

Gibbs smiled at McGee's futile attempts to cover up for his error. He knew that he had a crush on Abby and just wondered whether he'd already found out about the coffin.

"Ducky," Gibbs addressed the ME, "take a look at the autopsy reports. If something doesn't sit right, we're gonna get a warrant to dig up the bodies."

"You can count on me Jethro."

"What are you gonna do?" Kate asked Gibbs.

"I'm going to Arlington. I need to ask Amanda Johnson about that stalker she 'forgot' to mention the last time we spoke."

**§§§**

"Agent Gibbs?" Amanda Johnson gasped in surprise as she opened her door and saw the man from NCIS she had spoken to the day before.

"Can I come in miss Johnson?" he asked politely.

Reluctantly Amanda stepped back, making space for Gibbs to come inside. She motioned him to sit on the couch while she took the armchair across him.

"Are you here to arrest me?" she gruffed.

"No, not really," replied Gibbs calmly. "I just need to ask you some more questions."

"About what?! I told you everything I knew!"

"No, you didn't. You never mentioned that you were being stalked."

Amanda sighed in surrender.

"Patrick told you, didn't he?"

"He did," admitted Gibbs. "Why didn't you?"

"Isn't it obvious? You were accusing me of murdering James! If I told you he was going stalker on me, I would've just given you one more reason to think it was me who killed him!" Amanda fumed.

"Are you certain your stalker was James?" Gibbs inquired.

"No," confessed Amanda. "He never made contact but I could sense his presence, I could tell someone was watching me. A few times I thought I was being followed but then the guy would pass by me or just disappear somewhere and I couldn't tell anymore whether it was real or was I just being paranoid. Once, when I came back from work, I realized someone had been in my apartment. They went through my mail, checked my computer, searched my drawers. James was the only one who had keys to my place so I only assumed it was him. I thought he was trying to find out whether I was really cheating on him and that was why he followed me and went through my stuff."

"Amanda, it wasn't James who was stalking you," said Gibbs looking her straight in the eyes.

"How do you know?" she asked.

"There's been a breakthrough in the case. We have reason to believe that your stalker is also James's killer."

"Oh my God!" Amanda gasped, putting a hand over her mouth. "Do you think he... he could be after me as well?"

"We don't know that," lied Gibbs. He decided it would be better, if Amanda didn't know about the serial killer and the FBI's watch over her. This way she wouldn't act unnaturally and spoil their backup plan to catch the killer on the act.

"Still, watch your six," he added on a second thought, feeling guilty about turning Amanda into a bait without asking for her consent first.

"I will." Amanda nodded and then added with a shy smile, "Agent Gibbs, I'm sorry about my outburst earlier. I should have understood you were just doing your job."

"That's okay, I don't blame you."

"Perhaps I could make up for my behavior by offering you some coffee?"

"Thank you, a coffee would be great," Gibbs accepted the offer, aware of his caffeine levels running low again. He's only had two cups during the entire day, which was by far a record.

When a few moments later Amanda handled him a steaming cup, Gibbs thanked her and took a long sip of the dark liquid.

"Mmmh. You make some good coffee," he praised the girl and then continued in a more serious tone, "There's something else I'd like you to do for me though."

"Whatever you need Agent Gibbs."

"Tell me everything you can about your stalker."

"I'm afraid I don't have much to say," confessed Amanda regretfully. "He was about the same build and height as you are and that would pretty much be it."

"A witness saw James in the company of an older gray-haired man the night when he died. Does your stalker share these features?"

"I don't know about the hair because he was wearing a hood but I don't think he was old. I would've guessed mid to late thirties."

"How can you tell?"

"The way he moved was that of a younger person: swift, energetic, with a bounce to his walk."

"You're judging based on his moves only?" Gibbs wasn't convinced.

"That and his hands. I noticed them that time he passed by me. They looked soft and smooth, definitely younger than yours and you can be fifty at most."

"Close guess."

"Trust me on that one. I've always been good at telling people's age."

"Anything else you can tell me about him? Did you notice tattoos or scars? Perhaps something peculiar about his clothes?"

"No, I don't think so. He wore regular clothes: jeans and a dark hoodie, nothing out of the ordinary."

"What about a car?"

"I didn't notice any. I'm sorry."

"Can you think of anyone you know, other than James, that could've been the stalker? Perhaps a man you met recently? Or a customer of your shop?"

"No Agent Gibbs, I can't really think of anyone."

"That's okay Amanda." Gibbs gave her a reassuring smile and stood up to leave.

After Amanda walked him to the door he gave her his card and said, "If something else comes to your mind, give me a call."

**§§§**

When Gibbs came back to NCIS he first went to check in with Abby and found her and McGee busy with some computer stuff.

"Abyyyy!" he yelled through the hard rock blasting in the lab. "Turn down that noise!"

Reluctantly the goth turned the volume down.

"Found anything yet?"

"The evidence from Moore's crash is practically non existent as the police assumed right away it was an accident. We tried tracking the car down but it turned out it has been scrapped."

"What about the woman, Alicia Baker?"

"She died in a motel room so they found several different fingerprints, hair and organic material samples. Any of these could belong to our killer, as well as none. Our best shot is a DNA sample from under the victim's fingernails but it's useless until you give me something to match it to."

"We also checked her cellphone boss,"McGee added. "All the texts and call registry have been erased but we've managed to recover the data. The last text she received contained the address of the motel and the number of the room where she died along with the phrase 'I'll be waiting for you there'. There were also several calls coming from the same number."

"Did you ID the caller?"

"He used a burn phone. The number is already invalid."

"So you actually got nothing?"

"No," McGee admitted with guilt.

"Not yet!" Abby straightened out. "But we will! Promise!"

Gibbs just nodded and left to check in with Tony and Kate.

"Where's DiNozzo?" he asked Kate, who sat alone at her desk buried in case files.

"I think he went to the vending machines. He mumbled something about being hungry," Kate told him and then asked, "Did you get anything from Amanda?"

Gibbs's face contorted in an expression of uncertainty as he started pacing up and down the bullpen.

"She wasn't able to give me any relevant detail about her stalker," he said, "but she claims he wasn't an older man like the one Kattrall's been seen with."

"It could've been an older man posing as a younger one," Kate suggested.

"Or the other way around."

"Or there could be two of them."

"I don't know. I have a feeling we're missing something important." He came in close to her desk and asked, "What have you got?"

Kate sighed tiredly and leaned back in her chair.

"It's deja vu all over again," she said rubbing at her neck that was killing her after she'd spent most of the afternoon at her desk.

"We've been through all the relatives and friends interrogations and they all sound the same," she said. "None of Patricia Miller's friends knew she was being stalked. People who attended the party where she was killed saw her with a man but they assumed it was her boyfriend."

"The real boyfriend died in a crash a week earlier," pointed out Gibbs, unconsciously placing his palms on Kate's shoulders, "and yet she went to a Valentine's Day party? Why?"

"Patricia's roommate said she didn't know he was dead. The police only notified the family who didn't know about the two of them dating," said Kate. "They were supposed to meet at that party."

As Kate spoke, Gibbs's expert hands worked the tense muscles in her neck and shoulders and she let out a small moan.

"Gibbs, what-?" she gasped suddenly becoming aware of the situation.

"Relax Kate," he assured her. "I always do that with Abby when she gets cramps from drinking too much Caf-Pow!. I wouldn't want you to go back to the FBI all run over and have Fornell think we didn't treat you right."

Kate laughed at his comment and let Gibbs work his magic on her.

God it felt good, she thought, as he skillfully massaged her stiff shoulders and she felt herself slowly melt under his touch. He then moved his palms under her hair and brushed his thumbs in small circles over the bare skin at the base of her neck and she shivered slightly at the sensation. Her mind drifted into a fantasy in which those large masculine hands explored far more than just her neck.

"What else Kate?" Gibbs's question brought her back to Earth.

"Uhm... Well..." She had a hard time regaining her focus. "Michael Perry... he was seen at a bar...oh!" She couldn't help but gasp at Gibbs's administrations. "... with a man with gray hair and wearing a dark colored uniform, could've been either Military or... mmmh... or Navy, the witness wasn't sure."

"What about the Baltimore couple?" asked Gibbs chuckling slightly at the little gasps and moans involuntarily escaping Kate's throat.

"It was like reading the same thing over again. Walsh had been seen drinking with an older man in a uniform the night he died. The FBI inquired... mmmh... about his identity but nobody recognized him. The fiancée, Anna Stuart, was the only one who actually filed... ah!... a stalking complaint. She described her stalker as a caucasian male, about 6 feet tall and a 180 pounds... mmmh... probably in his thirties but... oooh!... she wasn't certain about it as she had never seen him in the face. She also stated she didn't kno... oh!... ow him."

In the meantime Tony returned from the cafeteria and headed towards his desk. He was halfway across the deserted squad room when he noticed something strange and came to a halt.

There was Gibbs's silver-haired head popping out from behind the separator wall. He appeared to be moving back and forth in a rhythmical motion, which by itself was already odd, but what really got Tony into a state of shock were the soft, suggestive sounds interchanged with bits and pieces of information about the case coming from the cubicle.

The separator wall successfully blocked Tony's view of the situation, but he instantly recognized Kate's voice and, when he brought back to mind Abby's wild theories about her and Gibbs having some sort of secret affair, his dirty imagination went into overdrive.

He instantly pictured the cute and feisty FBI agent sprawled half naked over her desk and his boss taking her from behind while she was giving him a sitrep.

That was so damn kinky, he thought, trying to decide whether he was more disturbed by the image of Gibbs having sex, in the bullpen none the less, or excited by that of a nude and disheveled Kate squirming in ecstasy. In the end the excitement won and Tony felt his jeans grow tighter by the second.

"Are you gonna just stand there DiNozzo?" Gibbs's sudden call startled Tony to the point of making him drop all of his candy.

"Tony?!" Kate's head popped out next to Gibbs's and the agent instantly noticed she was red as a tomato. "How long have you been standing there?!"

"Long enough," replied Tony with a wicked grin.

He came around the separator wall and took in the image of the FBI agent and his boss, both fully dressed and definitely not engaged in any kind of inappropriate activities.

"Something wrong DiNozzo?" asked Gibbs seeing his agent's perplexed expression.

"No boss, I just thought... nevermind..."

"Good. What did you find about Moore's and Baker's murders?" Gibbs changed the topic back to the case.

"Those were the most interesting," Tony said. "They were different from the other four, or five, if we count Kattrall's too."

"Well, actually Moore's crash looks identical to the other three," Kate argued. "It was definitely staged to look like a drunk driving accident and in Moore's case the police actually fell for that. You will have to ask Ducky for detail on the autopsy, but it looks like it was limited to an external examination."

"A superficial autopsy would confirm the victim died in the crash. They probably didn't even consider murder an option and thus had the ME skip the internal examination to speed things up and file the case asap," Gibbs theorized.

"That sounds likely," Tony agreed. "Everything they had screamed 'drink and drive'. Moore didn't exactly avoid booze and he's been seen drinking the night of the crash."

"What about the mysterious man in a uniform?"

"The bartender stated Moore didn't drink alone but he didn't give any detail on his company. At that time the investigators must've considered it not important enough to ask about it."

"Alicia Baker's case is really the only one that stands out," Kate pointed out. "Unlike the other female victims she may have known her killer."

"There was no mention of stalking in the witness statements," Tony followed, "and her best friend told the police Alicia had a secret admirer that she didn't tell anyone but her about."

"The friend didn't know who it was though. Alicia never mentioned his name, she always just called him B."

"Bee? Like a bee?"

"No Gibbs, like the letter 'B'."

"Any ideas on what could it stand for?"

"Bastard?" Tony offered.

"Don't push it DiNozzo."

"What Tony meant," Kate came to Tony's rescue, " is that we checked all of Alicia's friends and no one's first or last name starts with a 'B'. No one's but her own."

"It's gotta mean something!" Gibbs argued pacing back and forth between the two agents' desks.

Eventually he grabbed at his coat and rushed to the elevator.

"Hopefully, his personal three 'B's will do their job and tomorrow he'll be back with some brilliant idea in mind," Tony sighed.

"What three 'B's?" Kate gave him a questioning look.

"Basement, boat and bourbon."

"I don't think I understand."

"Often, when we get stuck somewhere in the middle of a case, Gibbs goes back to his basement where he gets a couple shots of Jack and works on his boat for hours. He says it helps him think," explained Tony and then added in a mock spiritual tone, "As his body is submitted to physical exhaustion his mind goes into a higher state of consciousness and once he reaches Nirvana he sees everything with more clarity and suddenly he knows who killed whom and why."

Kate laughed sincerely and thought that there were actually some perks to Tony's juvenile personality, a sense of humor being one of them.

"I think I'm gonna call it a day," Tony said with a yawn and then motioned to the FBI file boxes "We're not gonna get anything else out of these anyways."

"Yeah, I'm gonna go home t-" suddenly Kate stopped mid word.

"What's wrong?" Tony asked her.

"I just realized I came here with Fornell this morning. My car is still in the FBI parking lot."

"Don't worry, I'll drive you," Tony offered. "Just help me take the case files down to the lab. I bet Abby is about to pull an all-nighter just to find something and make Gibbs happy so she can keep an eye on them."

Reluctantly Kate agreed and she and Tony took all the case file boxes to Abby's, grabbing her a Caf-Pow! on their way down.

Just like Tony said, the forensic scientist was about to stay in late, but at least McGee was there to keep her company. They were currently struggling with a surveillance tape from the motel where Alicia Baker had been killed.

Tony and Kate waved them their goodbyes and headed for the parking lot.

"McGeek is gonna be a wreck tomorrow," Tony laughed getting into his precious '90 ZR-1 Corvette.

"I think that's really nice of him to help Abby. She's got way too much on her hands," said Kate in reply and slid into the passenger seat.

"And his hard work shall pay off when Abby pulls out her futon and let him count up all of her tats, even the hidden ones, if you know what I mean." Tony's brows rose up suggestively.

"You're a pig DiNozzo!"

"Look who's talking Miss Tighty Pants!" snickered Tony. "What the hell was that thing before in the bullpen?"

"It wasn't what you think!"

"Come on Katie! You were moaning like you were being possessed!"

"No I wasn't."

"Yes you were."

Kate couldn't believe she was really having this conversation, and with DiNozzo of all people! Hadn't she already given herself enough humiliation rope to hang herself with when she foolishly submitted to the pleasure, forgetting about DiNozzo still being around the office? Now she had to discuss that with him too?!

"Well, since you're not telling me what it was all about, I will just need to assume that-" Tony began but Kate cut him off.

"Gibbs just gave me a shoulder rub," she blurted out figuring the truth was far less outrageous than Tony's wild speculations. "He said he does that with Abby too."

"Well, Abby's his favorite and many of the things Gibbs does with her he'd never do with any of us."

"What are you implying?" Kate send yet another furious glare his way.

"Oh, nothing, nothing at all," Tony just muttered in reply.

They drove in silence for a while but then DiNozzo picked up the topic again.

"Must have been one hell of a shouder rub," he commented.

Kate rolled her eyes. Why was DiNozzo fixating on the subject even now that he knew what had happened? Then suddenly it hit her: he was being jealous! The moment she realized that she knew she'd just found the perfect strategy to counterstrike DiNozzo's teasing.

"Well, Gibbs sure has some serious skills," she told him

"He really that good?"

"The best."

Tony glanced at her suspiciously.

"You're just messing with me," he said driving the car into the FBI parking lot.

"Am I?" Kate flashed Tony a daring smile and jumped out of his car.

Tony watched her get into her Volkswagen and drive away still unsure whether she really meant what she said, or was it just an attempt to get back at him.

**§§§**

Sanding his boat Gibbs forced his mind to stay focused on the case.

There were seven dead people and an eighth one in potential danger and they still had nothing solid, he thought. His mind roamed around stalkers lurking in the shadows, jealous boyfriends and unidentifiable gray-haired men in uniforms, and then there was also the mysterious 'B'. What could it possibly stand for?

There were a lot of B-words that came to his mind: brave, bold, brilliant, blushing, brown-eyed, brunette, beautiful, breathtaking. None had anything to do with the serial killer but they fit perfectly a certain female Special Agent.

Caitlin Todd, the Secret Service chick turned FBI agent, that for him would always be simply Kate no matter who she worked for.

He couldn't get his mind off her, now that he knew what had happened to her, even more so. His thoughts travelled back to the last and only time when he saw Kate before today: the Air Force One case.

He got called in on a free weekend, the guy at the airport annoyed him by asking stupid questions and trying to hold their bags, and once they arrived to Wichita they found out the crime scene had become yet another interagency battlefield. Then in the middle of all that mess there was her.

She's been throwing him suspicious glances from the moment he stepped aboard and he wasn't surprised when, once the FBI was out of the way, she came back up to claim her 'jock strap'. She stood her ground in spite of being in a losing position and that had actually impressed him.

He could clearly remember the moment of their first big argument, the challenge in her eyes, the faint trace of color on her face, and that long forgotten sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach. Right there and then he knew he was a goner and that was just the beginning.

They agreed on a collaboration which brought up the smiles, the threats, the glances, the bickering, the joking, the fighting. The attraction between them was clearly mutual and at some point he even thought that, once the case was over, he'd give it a go and ask her out. Before that happened though, he had had enough time to think everything through with calm and realized he would've been making yet another mistake.

Kate was young and beautiful, and at the beginning of her career and she deserved better than an old, grumpy ex-marine with an impressive record of failed relationships. He didn't want her to end up hurt like his ex-wives, and himself on Ducky's slab with his head smashed with a baseball bat again, although considering it was Kate, a gunshot wound was probably more likely.

He joined her on the Presidential detail with a strong resolve not to engage in any sort of flirting but that turned out to be easier said than done.

It began with Kate's blabbering about breaking up with Tim Kerry the previous day. What a funny coincidence, he had thought, eagerly nodding his head to avoid staring unceremoniously at her lips. They were soft, pink and glossy and he imagined they'd taste sweet and fruity. How he wanted just to pull her over and kiss her senseless even with all the people staring! Instead, in reply to her obvious provocation, he made some stupid remark about meeting people at church and turned away. With the corner of his eye he could see her expression: a mix of confusion, anger and disappointment, and had to tell himself over and over again that pulling away was the right thing to do.

After the call from NCIS informing him about Major Kerry's death and a potential terrorist threat things only got worse. Caught up in the moment, with adrenaline rushing through his veins and clouding his better judgement he accused her, tested her, hurt her just like the bastard he was, and then let her cry over his shoulder. Holding her in his arms, he gave in to the feeling knowing this was probably the first and last time when he'd have her so close.

He let himself go only for a few seconds, then immediately refocused on the terrorist attack at hand. Together they figured everything out and prevented the worse. The threat was over, the President was secure, the casualties were few and in the morning Kate Todd was going be nothing more than a beautiful memory.

When they landed at Andrews, Kate's boss, Agent Bauer, informed him she had resigned from the Secret Service and suddenly he realized there was a way to keep Kate close without ruining her life: he'd ask her to come work for him. After firing Blackadder he was one agent down and he was sure Kate'd make an excellent investigator. He'd only need to make it clear that any romance at the workplace was out of the question so the arrangement could work the way he intended it.

It seemed like such a brilliant idea back then, but his conversation with Kate at the coffee shop this morning proved to him it actually wasn't. He had offered her the job because he liked her, and she had refused exactly because she liked him back. As much as he may have had doubts about it before, this time she'd made it crystal clear.

Now they were back together on a new case and he knew it would be 'Air Force One' all over again, but some things have changed since then and he wasn't so sure that his time around he'd manage to stay away from her.

* * *

><p>AN: Thank everyone for the reviews and the follows!

flootzavut - It wasn't my intention to steal the massage idea. When I read UR story I already had this chap written down.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: NCIS and all it' characters belong to CBS and Bellisarius Productions.**

* * *

><p><strong>HEARTKILL<strong>

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><p><strong>Chapter 4<strong>

_Tuesday, February 10th 2004_

The elevator door opened and Gibbs strolled into the squadroom, a coffee cup in each hand and a foul mood written all over his face. He was angry with himself for being late, for not having any utterly brilliant ideas about the case, and most of all, for having had yet another strange dream involving Kate, Air Force One and a pair of handcuffs, and this time it definitely wasn't a nightmare.

"Why does he carry two coffee cups today?" McGee asked Tony in a low voice watching the boss walk over to his post.

"Must have something to do with one of his ex-wives and some lawyers," replied Tony expertly, "or..."

"Or what?"

Before Tony could reply, Gibbs's voice brought them back to attention.

"Where's Kate?" he asked realizing the desk across his was empty.

"Miss her already boss?" Tony teased.

"Watch it DiNozzo." Had he been closer, he would've smacked him.

"Sorry boss!"

"She called in before," McGee told him. "She said she was going to check in with Fornell at the FBI."

Gibbs nodded and then noticed the probie's slightly disheveled appearance.

"McGee, why do you look like you've been run over by a truck?"

"I... I've been helping out Abby all night, and..."

"Did you find anything?"

"No, I mean, yes! Well, not exactly..."

"I'll just go ask her," said Gibbs getting up from his chair, "and you get yourself in order. This is a Federal office building."

McGee instantly shot up from his chair and ran to the bathroom almost spilling the remains of his Caf-Pow! in the process.

"DiNozzo!"

"Yes boss?"

"You find me something," Gibbs's voice was a low hiss.

"On it boss!" Tony said and when Gibbs was gone he mumbled to no one in particular, "Looks like this time his boat building therapy didn't do the trick."

**§§§**

It turned out that Abby and McGee have been up all night for close to nothing.

There was a golden fiber identical to the one found in Kattrall's car among the evidence from the Stuart case, but that only proved the killings were related. Abby also managed to spot a small amount of organic residue on Patricia Miller's dress. She compared the sample to the one from under Alicia Baker's nails and the DNA matched, but that also only confirmed what they already knew. She was still working on the computers and the mobiles belonging to the various victims, but so far she didn't find anything interesting. The best piece of evidence they had was a camera recording from the motel where Alicia Baker died. It captured a man checking into the same room a few hours before the murder, but the angle and bad quality of the video didn't allow positive recognition.

Leaving Abby's lab, Gibbs felt even more frustrated than he was before and he began to understand why the FBI didn't catch their man yet.

"Tell me you found something?" he gruffed, entering the bullpen.

Tony and McGee kept silent and he just clenched his jaw and said in that calm voice that sounded far more terrifying than a yell, "Keep digging"

"On it boss!" the two agents replied in unison and got back to their work.

Gibbs slid behind his desk and sipping at his second cup of coffee, with his head propped on his palm, he began to mentally go through all the information they had. The anger kept his mind focused on the case and away from thoughts of Kate.

Time slowly went by and with every passing minute Gibbs was beginning to see things with more clarity. He was just about to speak his thoughts, when he noticed the FBI agent coming out of the elevator.

"Good morning!" Kate greeted them but then noticed everyone's sour expression and added, "Not quite so good eh?"

"Not really," DiNozzo sounded downcast.

"Any good news from the FBI Katie?" asked Gibbs and gave himself a mental headslap when he realized he'd just called her 'Katie' instead of 'Kate'.

"I don't know if you'll consider it good news, but none of the agents on Amanda's protection detail noticed anyone suspicious so far," Kate informed him.

"I'd rather they noticed someone. We could use a new lead."

"We've been running all kinds of checks all morning but we got nowhere," McGee said tiredly. "We don't even know where to dig anymore."

"All of these couples appear to be chosen at random. They have nothing in common besides, you know, being a couple," added Tony.

"Serial killers never choose their victims at random," Kate argued. "There has to be a pattern, even if we don't see it. The thing the victims have in common could be something apparently irrelevant, like a particular blood type or zodiac sign."

"We already checked that. They all had various blood types and zodiac signs."

"Kate's right DiNozzo," Gibbs cut in. "There has to be a pattern and I think I know what it may be. McGee," he addressed the younger agent, "put up the pictures of the victims and also Amanda Johnson's."

McGee did as instructed and Gibbs asked him to arrange them in order according to gender and time of death. He then pointed out to the first row of photos displayed on the plasma.

"Look at all the females. Notice anything?"

"They look alike. All blondes with long hair and blue eyes," Kate said.

"They all are also of similar build and height, and pretty much of the same age. The youngest was 23, the oldest 25," added McGee after checking with the files.

"The simplest solution is usually the best one," said Tony amused. "Why didn't we see it before?"

"Perhaps because we looked at the victims in pairs and never considered them separately," Kate came up with an explanation. "Only the women share some physical features, the men are very different from each other and that must've confounded us."

"The killer didn't care because the real targets were the girls, the men were just an obstacle he needed to get rid of."

"You're only half right DiNozzo," Gibbs said. "The men's appearance probably wasn't important to him, but if they were just an obstacle, why wouldn't he target single girls?"

"Boss, do you know how hard it is to find a cute, young, blonde girl who is still single?"

"You'd know something about that, wouldn't you DiNozzo?" Kate snickered, making McGee burst into laughter and even Gibbs chuckled a little. If there was something they both loved about Kate, it was her ability to shut Tony up with a pungent remark.

"What I don't get," McGee spoke up when he regained his composure, "is why does he care to cover up the men's murders but not the women's?"

"That's because it's not a cover up," Gibbs replied with a knowing smirk. "The crash, the blonde hair, the jealous boyfriend, the dates of the killings, it's all part of a pattern he follows to reenact a specific event from his past."

"The Philadelphia murders!" Kate gasped in sudden realization.

"Those first two cases are different. The female victim knew her killer and quite probably had some sort of relationship with him. Her murder may not have been planned, it could've been committed in momentary rage and the boyfriend's death could've actually been a drunk driving accident. The following kills are purposefully set up in such a way to recreate that scenario as closely as possible."

"The more recent victims have no actual connection to their killer, they are chosen on the basis of their resemblance to the original Philadelphia couple," Tony noted. "That's why there was nothing useful in the family and friends statements."

"The Philadelphia cases are the key to solving this puzzle. We figure out who Alicia Baker was having an affair with and we'll find our killer."

"Boss, we've been through those files a dozen times. There's nothing in there," Tony whined.

"I know and that's why I think we should interrogate everyone related to Alicia Baker once again. Perhaps, if asked the right way, they could tell us something important."

"You want to bring everyone in from Philadelphia?" asked Kate, bemused.

"Naaaah!" Gibbs dismissed the idea. "It's gonna be faster if one of us drives there and pays everyone a visit."

"I'll go boss!" Tony jumped out of his seat. "Before Baltimore I worked in Philadelphia for a short time."

Gibbs nodded in agreement and Tony's eyes lit up in excitement.

"Someone's gotta go with you," Gibbs pointed out.

"How about Kate? I bet at the FBI they keep her buried in paper work so she could use a little road trip."

Gibbs saw right through Tony's intentions, but then he figured Kate was a big girl who carried a Sig and could definitely handle one horny Italian.

"Okay, you take Kate with you," he agreed.

Kate shot Gibbs a glare and followed Tony out of the bullpen. In the meantime Gibbs's cellphone rang and the caller ID indicated it was Ducky.

"Yeah Duck?" he asked the ME. "I'll be right there. Okay, I'll get her."

Kate and Tony were already at the elevator when they heard Gibbs yell at them to go back.

"Change of plans!" he announced. "McGee, you go with Tony."

"What? Why?" whined Tony.

"Ducky says he needs Kate's help down in autopsy."

"Please tell me he doesn't want me to cut into a cadaver!" exclaimed Kate horrified.

"I don't think so" Gibbs chuckled and rushed her forward.

As Gibbs and Kate headed to autopsy, McGee grabbed his gear and joined Tony in the elevator.

"He's just made that up to get back at me," grumbled Tony under his nose and McGee figured he was talking about Gibbs.

"Ducky really called him," he informed the Italian.

"Okay, so he did, but you don't know what he said," pointed out Tony. "I mean, why would Ducky need Kate in autopsy?"

"Perhaps Gerald called in sick and he needs assistance?"

"Come on Probie! Kate's a federal agent not an autopsy gremlin and when I saw Gerald this morning he was in perfect health. I'm telling you, Gibbs made it all up just so he could have her in the office with him, and us out of the way," fumed the Italian.

"Now that's something I would never expect from you." McGee looked at him curiously. "Are you implying that they... you know... in the office?!"

"You didn't see them last night." Tony shrugged at the memory.

"Why? What happened?"

"Gibbs gave Kate a massage and it must've been a really good one judging by the sounds she was making."

"Wow!" The news had McGee clearly impressed. "By the way, did you notice that before Gibbs addressed her as 'Katie'?"

"Yeah, and she didn't go mad about it like she does when I call her that."

"When he was taking her down to autopsy, he put his hand on her butt."

"You're making this one up!" Tony objected.

"Admit it Tony, you too noticed these two are into each other and we've got plenty of evidence to confirm that."

"It's all circumstantial. Let's not jump to conclusions before we have something solid."

"Like what? A video of them having sex on a slab in autopsy?" McGee joked.

Tony looked at him in horror but then he said, "Yeah Probie, that would definitely be some hard evidence."

**§§§**

The automatic doors opened with a mechanical hiss and Gibbs and Kate stepped into autopsy.

"Hello Jethro, Caitlin," greeted them the ME.

"Hello doctor."

"Hi Duck. Why did you want both of us down here?" Gibbs inquired, hoping it had nothing to do with Abby's recent ideas about him and Kate. He wouldn't be surprised, if the two, being friends and both incurable romantics, attempted to play matchmakers.

"Did my request cause any problems?" asked Ducky concerned.

"Not to me, but DiNozzo was quite disappointed that Kate couldn't go with him," Gibbs informed him.

"I'm sincerely sorry for Tony but I need Kate's help down here. Before I get to that though, I'd like to talk to you, dear Jethro, about those autopsy reports you wanted me to check."

"Anything wrong about them?"

"Quite the contrary. They were detailed and complete, and one of the autopsies was even performed by an excellent ME who happens to be a friend of mine. I only have perplexities about the cause of death of Jimmy Moore, whose autopsy report was limited to the results on an external examination."

"Let go of that one Duck," Gibbs said.

"We came up with a new theory," Kate explained. "We think Moore's death may have really been an accident."

"Well, in that case I shall pass to another issue that Agent Fornell either forgot to mention or wasn't aware of."

"What did you find Duck?" Gibbs asked impatiently.

"As far as the reports concerning our male victims didn't contain any interesting detail we wouldn't already know about from the autopsy of PFC Kattrall, in those relative to the females I noticed something rather perplexing."

"Ducky, get to the point."

"As you both know all of our female victims were raped and strangled but what's interesting is that it didn't always happen in that order."

"He raped them when they were already dead?!" Kate sounded disgusted.

"Precisely my dear. Both Patricia Miller and Anna Stuart were first strangled and only then sexually assaulted."

"You mentioned Miller and Stuart, but what about Baker?" Gibbs noted.

"In her case it was hard to determine whether the intercourse happened _post_ or _peri mortem_. Based on the description of the signs present on her body I would say that she was strangled not before or after, but during a sexual performance. I believe that initially the act was consensual and that it continued through and after her strangulation resulting in additional abrasions consistent with rape."

"This is one sick bastard we're looking for," said Gibbs, now he too visibly nauseated.

"You're absolutely right my friend. I cannot imagine what kind of a monster would do such a thing to a young woman, on Valentine's Day none the less."

"Perhaps he's got a grudge against V-day? Personally, I hate it too."

Both Gibbs and Ducky looked at Kate in surprise.

"I could've expected such a statement from Jethro," Ducky said, "but I cannot fathom why such a beautiful, young woman as yourself, my dear Caitlin, would hate Valentine's Day."

"It's just that..." Kate dropped her eyes to the floor feeling a bit embarrassed. "On V-day other girls would always get something red, heart-shaped and fluffy from their boyfriends, and I never did, even if I happened to be dating someone at the time. I know it's stupid and childish to fuss over some cheesy gadget but never getting one made me feel like I wasn't even worth the effort."

"My dear, if it can make you feel any better, I'm willing to cut a real heart out of a cadaver and give it to you on Saturday," Ducky joked putting an arm around Kate's shoulder and she instantly cheered up.

"Duck, anything else in those reports?" Gibbs brought them back on track.

"I'm afraid not. I would, however, like to attempt to compile a psychological profile of our killer based on them. I may have specialized in pathology but the study of human mind has always been a passion of mine. Many years ago back in Edinburgh I attended a series of extremely fascinating seminars about..."

"Ducky, is this why you wanted Kate down here?" Gibbs interrupted him. "You need her help with the profiling?"

"Yes, that is exactly the reason. I believe I could use some expert help with this new task and I recall our Caitlin used to be a profiler back in the Secret Service."

"I still am a profiler, and I will gladly help you Ducky," said Kate with a smile, relieved that she wouldn't have to cut into a cadaver after all.

Gibbs just nodded to say he approved of the arrangement and strode back to the elevator.

"Would you like some tea?" Ducky offered when Gibbs was gone. "I have some excellent Earl Gray a friend of mine brought me from London."

"Yes, thank you," Kate accepted.

"How do you find yourself working with us once again?" the ME asked while preparing the infusion.

"Very well actually. The collaboration between our agencies is running very smoothly," Kate replied.

"Let me rephrase the question dear, how do you find yourself working WITH GIBBS again?"

Before Kate could answer, the autopsy door hissed again and a very excited Abby rushed inside.

"Oh! Hi Kate!" she exclaimed noticing the FBI agent. "What are you doing down here?"

"Caitlin will be helping me with the serial killer's psychological profile," Ducky explained, "but before we get to that, I thought it would be nice just to seat and chat for a minute over a cup of tea. By the way, would you like some my dear Abigail?

"Thanks Ducky but I'm not much of a tea drinker."

"I imagined you'd refuse," Ducky said not at all offended.

"So? What have you guys been talking about?" asked Abby curiously.

"Just small-talk," Kate replied evasively.

"I was just asking Caitlin how she feels about working with Gibbs considering everything that happened between them." Kate's hopes that Ducky wouldn't bring it up again turned out to be in vain.

At first she wanted to lie to him, to deny everything, to blame it on his imagination, but then she realised that she needed to talk to someone about this before she went crazy and the old, kind ME along with the bubbly goth lab rat were probably the best confidants she would find.

"I'm trying my best to be professional, but I can't help but feel attracted to the damn bastard!" she said angrily. "It's just that he's so... so..."

"Hot?" Abby suggested.

"Infuriating!" Kate finally blurted out.

It was true, Gibbs's uncanny ability to drive her insane in a thousand different ways was the primary reason Kate was drawn to him like a moth to a flame. Yes, he was also good looking, strong, smart, responsible, and if he tried hard enough, even funny just like other men she dated, but unlike many of them, who fell at her knees with little to no effort on her part, Gibbs was a real challenge.

"Heaven knows I've tried getting over him, I even dated a couple other guys but when this case came up and I found myself face to face with him again I felt as if my life rewound," she wailed. "All those emotions I've been trying to bury away returned even stronger than before, and in spite of the voice of reason telling me to let it go, I can't help but want him even more!"

"I appreciate it, my dear, that you would share something as personal as this with us," Ducky said, "but I was only asking whether Gibbs was giving you a hard time at work for refusing his job offer."

"Oh!" Kate blushed furiously when she realized her mistake and buried her head in her arms in utter embarrassment. She wished the ground beneath her feet split and swallowed her whole.

"Chillout Kate," said Abby rubbing her back comfortingly. "We've been suspecting you had the hots for Gibbs anyways."

"Just please, don't tell anyone about any of this, especially Gibbs," Kate implored.

"But of course not my dear," Ducky assured her. "Your secret is safe with us."

**§§§**

Late in the afternoon Tony and McGee called in from Philadelphia.

"There's some good news and some bad news," Tony said over the phone. "Which do you wanna hear first boss?"

"Bad," he replied.

"It turns out a couple of Baker's friends we wanted to talk to don't live in Phili anymore."

"Where do they live?"

"Well, that's the good news. They both moved to DC."

"Okay. I'll take care of them."

Once Tony provided him with names and addresses Gibbs drove to Georgetown to talk to the two girls. When he returned to the office a few hours later he wasn't any smarter than he'd been when he left. Neither of Alicia's two girlfriends could tell him anything he wouldn't know already.

Annoyed that he'd wasted his time for nothing, Gibbs strode into the squad room and saw Kate pacing furiously up and down the bullpen.

"Oh! Hi Gibbs!" she said in a chirpy tone that sounded very much like Abby's.

"You okay Kate?" he asked a bit confused by her spry behavior.

"Peachy! I just feel like I wanna jump or run or... or... or hit something!" She blew a fake punch in his general direction jolting Gibbs even more.

"What the hell did Ducky do to you Katie?"

"Oh! It wasn't Ducky! Well, it kinda was, but not exactly. I mean, he had me do the profiling and then I came back up here, but you were gone and I didn't know whether you were coming back or not," Kate chattered unusually fast, "and then I figured I'd wait for some time just in case, but I was literally falling on my face and then Abby came and..."

Suddenly realization washed over Gibbs and he burst into laughter interrupting Kate's word flow.

"What's so funny?" she asked him dumbfounded.

"Abby gave you some Caf-Pow!, didn't she? How many did you have?"

"Two."

"Kate, Caf-Pow! is something only Abby can drink in large quantities." Gibbs couldn't contain his amusement. "It gives some serious kick, especially if you've never had it before."

"Have you ever had it?"

"No, but I've been feeding it to Abby for a few years now so I know how it works."

"How long before it wears off?"

"A few hours I guess?"

"I think I won't be going to sleep tonight."

Gibbs watched her deeply in thought for a moment and then finally said, "I think I may have an idea on how to make it wear off faster."

"How?"

"Come on!" He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the elevator.

**§§§**

"You've gotta be kidding me," Kate said as Gibbs handled her a pair of tennis shoes, dark blue sweatpants and a white t-shirt with the NCIS logo printed on the back.

"You chickening out on me?" he teased her.

"I don't chicken!"

"The locker rooms are down there." He pointed out the direction. "I'll see you in five!"

When a few minutes later Kate entered the gym, Gibbs was already there, changed into a t-shirt and some sweatpants, and punching a training bag.

"You want us to box?" she asked him baffled.

"You said you wanted to hit something." He quit beating up the bag and walked out to meet her.

The tight fitting, blue and white set flattered Kate's slender figure even more than the dark suit she usually wore and as he watched her slowly approach him, he felt his heart rate increase dangerously.

He threw her a pair of red boxing gloves, climbed onto the ring and offered her his extended hand. Kate took it, and as he pulled her up, perhaps a bit too brusquely, she lost her balance and ended up bumping into his chest. She gasped at the unexpected contact and wrapped her free arm around his waist in an attempt to steady herself.

This was going to end up in trouble, the rational part of Gibbs's brain screamed out to him as he placed his hands on her back helping her regain her balance.

They just stood like that, frozen in each other's embrace for a few seconds until finally Gibbs pulled away. He put his gloves on and when Kate did the same they began their fight.

Kate was the one to throw the first punch but Gibbs blocked it and struck back. He went easy on her though and she swiftly dodged the blow and sent another one his way.

"So Kate," Gibbs blocked her again, "did you and Ducky manage to work out the killer's profile?"

"Sure!" Kate hit him some more. "Why do you think I was waiting for you?" She jumped a step back to avoid his returning punch. "I wanted to tell you about it asap"

"Tell me now." He sent another blow her way but she managed to ditch it again.

"He's very organized, meticulous, pays attention to detail," she told him going back into attack. "He carefully chooses his victims, takes time to study them and plan the kills before he executes them with almost surgical precision."

"What else?" he demanded throwing a few consecutive punches her way and forcing her to dodge.

"Based on his choice of victims and his MO, he's probably a caucasian male, likely in his forties, well educated and possibly quite wealthy," she said trying to find an opening and hit him back.

"He's intelligent, cunning in the way he manipulates his victims, but not bold. He keeps in the shadow and takes care not to leave traces behind. He doesn't seek recognition for his crimes like a typical sociopath would, perhaps because he's got to much to lose."

"What about his motive?"

"Emotion."

Kate's reply took Gibbs by surprise making him lose his focus for a split second and she immediately took advantage of it and punched him hard in the chest. "Ow!" he grunted and gave her a stupefied glance.

"Looks like I'm winning!" Kate laughed and raised her hands up, inviting him to try and get back at her.

"You wish!" he said with a cocky smirk and prepared to strike back. "What's with the emotion motive Kate?"

"What drives him is neither rage nor vengeance but a desperate need to re-experience those same emotions he felt when he killed and then raped Alicia Baker," she explained blocking him at the very last moment and immediately charging back with renewed rage.

"What happened that night didn't make him as terrified as it made him..." she stopped to a halt when, in an attempt to dodge her punch, Gibbs pulled out some fancy Marine trick making her stumble against his feet and sent them both to the ground.

"...excited," she finished in a breathless whisper, trapped in between the hard floor and a good hundred and eighty pounds worth of a male.

Her gaze darted from Gibbs's cerulean eyes to his slightly parted lips hovering only a couple inches over hers and she thought how little it would take to pull him further down and taste him.

Suddenly Gibbs shifted to sustain himself better on his elbows and the friction provoked by his movement sent a jolt of electricity up Kate's body and she had to bite her lip not to whimper.

"Looks like I won after all," he said with a smile, lifting himself up and off her.

Kate just gritted her teeth and when Gibbs least expected it, she pulled him back down and quickly flipped them over.

"I don't think so," she grinned, straddling his hips and pinning his hands over his head.

He didn't protest when she leaned dangerously low above him and, sustaining herself on her elbows, she took off her boxing gloves and ran her fingers through his hair. His brain screamed in alarm but his body gave in to the gentle caress.

Kate's warm body was wrapped around him like a blanket and her face was so close that their noses almost touched. Ignoring the voice of reason, he tilted his head slightly and she immediately took the hint and lowered herself even more. The already short distance in between their wanting lips began to close. Two inches. One. Half an inch... Then suddenly...

"Oh! I'm so sorry! I didn't know someone was still down here!"

Kate instantly shot up with a shriek and both she and Gibbs looked eyes wide at a chubby man with glasses standing in the gym door and struggling not to laugh.

"Come on in Harry," said Gibbs to the janitor. "We're done for tonight anyway."

"Yeah, it's gotten late, I think I should go now." Kate jumped to her feet and sprinted to the door. "Night Gibbs! Goodnight err Harry!"

The janitor grinned like a kid who just found a jar of candy, but when Gibbs shot him one of his best deadly glares his humor instantly turned to terror.

"Harry," said Gibbs in a serious tone approaching the other man slowly, "you didn't just see, what you think you saw."

"No sir! I didn't see anything!" replied Harry nervously.

Gibbs just nodded. giving him a pat on the shoulder and then left for the locker rooms. Kate was nowhere in sight and he figured she must've just grabbed her gear and run out of there as quickly as possible.

He took his clothes and a towel and went to the showers. He let the frigid water wash over him, his thoughts spiraling around the events of the last hour. He wanted to bang his head against the tiled wall for acting like a horny teenager, or like DiNozzo, but at the same time he couldn't help but smile at the memory.

**§§§**

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><p>AN: Thank U as usual for the reviews and the follows. I hope U enjoyed this chap, more fun to come!

btw. Harry the janitor is an actual characters from the show (s06e06 Murder 2.0)

bbtw. Kate's V-Day issue may seems weird but it's not totally unplausible. Her rant is actually inspired by personal experience. I'm not ugly, dated some guys but the most I got on V-Day was a fake card from my cousin who just tried to troll me (was about 12 or so back then).


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: NCIS and all things related belong to CBS and Bellisario.**

* * *

><p><strong>HEARTKILL<strong>

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><p><strong>Chapter 5<strong>

_Wednesday, February 11th 2004_

In spite of the boxing match almost turned into a make out session, Kate's system didn't fully wear off the Caf-Pow! and that night she tossed and turned in her bed for hours until she finally fell asleep. When a couple of hours later the beeping of her alarm clock forced her to get up, she felt like a zombie and probably didn't look much better.

Concealer, eyeliner and mascara did their job and when she left for work she was fairly presentable but her brain was still in standby mode, so on her way to the Navy Yard she stopped by Coffee Beans. The super strong coffee _à la Marine_ was her last resort because she swore she'd never ever drink Caf-Pow! again, even if she were ready to drop.

When twenty minutes later Kate entered the bullpen she was greeted by an unexpected and rather amusing sight. Tony and McGee were nowhere to be seen but Gibbs was there, and judging by his current position, he had never left.

The man was sprawled in his chair sleeping like a log, one of his arms resting on his stomach, the other one hanging over the armrest, his head bent backwards, his mouth slightly open and his hair sticking in weird directions.

Kate just smiled and walked to her desk to drop her gear when suddenly she heard sniffing.

"Coffee?" asked a sleepy voice, and turning around Kate saw Gibbs's eyes pop open and scan the surroundings for the source of the lovely smell.

"Uh-huh," she confirmed and took a long swig off her cup.

"Coffee Beans?" Gibbs asked curiously noticing the familiar green and brown logo. "You converted because of me?" he joked and reached for her cup.

"Hey! That's mine!" she protested and slapped his extended hand. "I didn't get a wink of sleep last night."

Gibbs smirked and arched his brow suggestively.

"Because of the Caf-Pow!" she cleared up. "It didn't wear off as much as I'd hoped for."

"Not my fault. Hadn't it been for Harry, I would've made sure you got home completely exhausted," he said in a deep, low voice and this time it was Kate who arched her brow and smiled wickedly.

"So Katie," Gibbs's eyes darted to her coffee again, "can I have a sip?"

"Nope."

"Pleeeeeease?"

He hasn't changed one bit in those last five months, Kate thought with amusement and drew out another Coffee Beans cup from a paper bag sitting on her desk and waved it in front of Gibbs's nose.

"Black, triple strong, no sugar, just like you like it," she offered watching his eyes lit up as he eagerly reached for the treat.

He took a long swig emptying half the cup in one go and groaned in delight as the dark, bitter liquid slowly warmed his insides.

"You're right, it's perfect," he said appreciatively. "Thank you."

"Wow! Did I just make the mighty Leroy Jethro Gibbs say 'thank you'?" she mocked.

"It was well deserved," he replied with a smile and got a step closer.

They were only inches apart, their eyes locked, the coffee aroma all around them and suddenly they were lost in some sort of silent connection. Then someone's sharp comment brought them back to reality.

"Did I just walk in on something here?" said Fornell entering the bullpen.

"We were just having some coffee," said Gibbs putting up his best poker face. "You're here to tell me something Tobias?"

"No, I just wanted to check if you've eaten Todd up yet," Fornell snarked. "Of course I'm here to tell you something!"

"Yeah?" Gibbs gave Fornell a questioning look.

"I've got a surprise for you Gibbs," said Fornell with a large grin. "Last night my agents spotted a man creeping around Johnson's apartment. We've got him in custody"

"Bring him in here for questioning," Gibbs demanded.

"He's already waiting for you in interrogation."

Gibbs and Fornell headed to the elevator with Kate trailing behind them. The two men jumped in, but before Kate could join them, Fornell pressed the floor button.

"Take the stairs Todd," she heard her boss say before the door slammed into her face.

"Why'd you do that?" Gibbs asked Fornell, perplexed.

"I wanted to talk to you in private," the FBI agent explained switching the stop button.

The elevator instantly jerked to a halt and the power went out leaving them immersed in the eerie blueish glow of the emergency lights.

"What's going on Tobias?" asked Gibbs concerned.

"You tell me." Fornell squinted his eyes at him. "What the hell was that thing before in the bullpen?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Gibbs played dumb, suddenly relieved that all the fuss was about something as trivial as this.

"You were looking at Todd just the way I used to look at your first ex-wife before I married her myself," Fornell fumed and Gibbs just rolled his eyes.

"I spent the whole night working and Kate just brought me coffee. She made me so happy that I was on the brim of proposing to her," he joked.

"I don't know what the deal is between the two of you," Fornell hissed, "but if I just hear a rumor about you messing up with MY agent..."

"Whatcha gonna do?" Gibbs taunted. "Tell on me to the director?"

"No, I'm gonna give our ex-wife your new phone number," Fornell retorted with a self-assured grin, "and I bet it's gonna take a while before she gets bored harassing you."

"Just quit the drama Tobias. Kate and I are good."

"That's exactly my point! The two of you seem way to friendly with each other," ranted the FBI agent. "You'd better not be trying to talk her into switching agencies again."

"Oh! So that's what this is all about," Gibbs laughed. "You think I want Kate to come work for me?"

"You wanted her to work for you in the first place," Fornell pointed out.

"I changed my mind," Gibbs said and flipped the power button indicating the conversation ended there.

Fornell glanced at Gibbs suspiciously. The old fox was up to something, he could tell by that shadow of a smirk playing around his lips.

He had ordered Kate to stay at NCIS just to annoy Gibbs a little, to show him what he'd missed, but now his gut was telling him he'd made a grave mistake. After that stunt the two of them played on him in Wichita he should had known better not to let them stay together.

**§§§**

The man the FBI caught lurking around Amanda's place was Burt Brenton, age 43, born in Bethesda, currently resident in Arlington, married with two children, worked as biology teacher in a local high school.

In many ways he fit into their killer's profile: both his initials were 'B's, his age matched their estimates, he was almost 6 feet tall with graying hair, had a collection of WWII memorabilia including an old military uniform, and as a biology scholar he would've known about Azalea poisoning properties but Gibbs's gut told him he wasn't their guy.

"I wasn't stalking Amanda! I swear!" the man cried out as soon as Gibbs entered the interrogation room.

"You've been caught sneaking around her apartment," Gibbs pointed out to him.

"I was just passing by," Brenton insisted.

"Sleepwalking perhaps? 'Cause if you ask me 3 a.m. seems like a strange time for a walk."

"You have to believe me! I'm not a stalker!"

"How about a killer?"

"What?! I didn't kill anyone!"

Gibbs pulled out a set of photos out of a dossier and displayed them on the table in front of Brenton. He then got up from his seat, walked around the table, leaned over Brenton's shoulder and whispered in his ear:

"Anna Stuart and Patricia Miller, two young, innocent girls who didn't even know you existed. You crept into their lives, you destroyed them, you killed their men, you drove them into paranoia and then killed them and profaned their bodies. All that because of her," Gibbs pointed out to a third picture, "Alicia Baker."

"Tell me Mr B," he continued, "how did it feel to strangle her and rape her corpse? Her body must still have been warm but she wouldn't move, wouldn't fight back. You could do anything you wanted to her, you were in control. Tell me, how did that make you feel? Did it turn you on you sick bastard?"

"STOP IT!" Brenton cried out covering his ears with his hands. "I didn't do any of this! I don't even know these people!"

"You sure know Amanda Johnson."

"Okay! I know her," Brenton confessed. "I've passed a few times by her shop to get some flowers for my wife when she'd get pissed at me for no reason which is pretty much all the time and Amanda was just so kind and so beautiful. She was the only good thing in my life and I couldn't help thinking about her so I began coming to her apartment, but only to watch her. I never meant to harm her in any way."

"For how long have you been doing this?"

"A couple of years. I don't think she ever noticed."

"Where were you four days ago between 7 and 9 p.m.?"

"Four days ago... that would've been Saturday. My family and I went to Fairfax to visit my mother in law. We departed around 10 a.m. on Saturday and stayed the weekend."

"Name, address, phone number." Gibbs passed Brenton a pen and a piece of paper and he wrote down the requested information.

"We will also need a DNA sample," Gibbs said, pulling a swab out of his jacket pocket.

"What for?! I told you I've got nothing to do with all this! I swear! Call my mother in law, she'll confirm my alibi and she would never cover for me cause she hates me."

"If you're telling the truth, the DNA test will only confirm it. Open your mouth."

Reluctantly Brenton complied and Gibbs took a sample of his saliva, grabbed the case dossier and headed for the door.

"Wait! What's gonna happen to me now?" Brenton called out to him.

"If your alibi checks out and your DNA doesn't match, you won't be charged for multiple murder and rape."

"So I'll be free to go?"

"You just confessed to stalking. Last time I checked that was also a crime," Gibbs said and left interrogation.

**§§§**

"Abby?" Gibbs called out but no one replied.

He went further into the lab and found his forensic scientist sleeping on the desk in her office using Bert, her farting hippo plushie, as a pillow. One of her arms was wrapped around a Caf-Pow! cup and when he tried to get it out of her grasp Abby instantly jumped awake and held to it for dear life.

"Easy Abs. I got you a new one." He handled her a fresh drink.

"Thanks Gibbs," she said and took a long swig. "I spent last night trying again to get something out of the motel video but the software I have here isn't powerful enough. A brand new video enhancement program that just came out could be of help but it's very expensive and I'm not so sure the director will grant me the funds for it."

"I'll take care of that. In the meantime see if this DNA matches the killer's."

"Who's your suspect?"

"Burt Brenton, a high school teacher that Fornell's people caught stalking Amanda. I don't think he's our man but run the test just to be sure."

"You've got it Gibbs."

Suddenly a bing of the elevator announced the arrival of some more visitors and Tony and McGee entered the lab followed by Kate.

"Hey guys! How was Philly?" Abby asked

"McGee talks in his sleep."

"And Tony snores."

"Gibbs," Kate addressed the senior agent, "Brenton's alibi checked out. He spent the entire weekend in Fairfax guarded 24/7 by his wife and mother-in-law."

"What did you two find out in Philadelphia?" Gibbs asked his agents.

"Alicia Baker's friends didn't know much about her tormented love life," Tony said, "and her family was completely oblivious to it but..."

"... they kept Alicia's room exactly the way it was before she died," McGee finished the sentence.

"You brought me some new stuff to play with, didn't you?" Abby asked, her eyes wandering towards a couple boxes McGee was carrying.

"Yes my dark princess," Tony confirmed, "and I bet you're gonna love it."

"What do we have in there?"

"Some clothes, books, CDs, an envelope containing some very artistic photos and," Tony took out of the box a notebook with a plush pink cover and a heart shaped locket, "Alicia Baker's secret diary. Can't wait to give it a proper read."

"I don't think you've got enough sensitivity for the job DiNozzo," Gibbs said with humor.

"Come on boss! We shouldn't leave everything to Abby, she's already overworked."

"Oh! That's so sweet Tony!" Abby kissed him on the cheek.

"Somebody should definitely help her with all this stuff," Tony kept on his train of thought, "and honestly I don't think McGee could..."

"Kate," Gibbs addressed the FBI agent, "do you have any problems with reading other people's diaries?"

"If the owner's been dead for three years and reading it could help us catch the killer, then no, I don't have any problems with that," Kate replied with a smile.

"Good. Then you stay down here and help Abby. DiNozzo!"

"Yes boss?" Tony sounded discouraged.

"You got anything else?"

"Well, since we were already there we figured we'd talk to Jimmy Moore's buds as well."

"And?"

"The friends confirmed Moore was green jealous of his girlfriend," McGee cut in, "and that the couple months prior to their deaths they'd been fighting a lot."

"Moore was accusing Alicia of cheating on him and he suspected it was with someone older and probably rich because he noticed she wore clothes and jewelry she couldn't afford."

"We also spoke to the owner of the bar where Moore'd been to the night he died. He remembered seeing him drinking profusely in the company of another guy."

"A gray haired man in uniform?" Gibbs hazarded a guess.

"Actually no. He said he never spotted anyone like that in his bar. The man that was with Moore didn't look very old and dressed casual."

"Something doesn't sit right in here," said Gibbs thoughtfully. "Assuming it's was the same guy, why would he dress up in an uniform later on, if he didn't do it the first time around?"

"I don't know boss."

"Well, let's go and find out! The male victims were the ones who had direct contact with the killer. Perhaps we should've been focusing on them from the very beginning. Come on!"

Gibbs headed out and Tony and McGee followed. He was already at the door when he turned around and peeking his head inside the lab he shouted:

"Hey Abs! Don't give Kate any more Caf-Pow!"

"Why?" asked Abby suspiciously.

"Just don't do it, okay?"

"Okay! Now shoo! We've got work to do."

When Gibbs, Tony and McGee were gone for good Abby turned to Kate and asked, "Why doesn't Gibbs want me to give you any more Caf-Pow!?"

"It makes me a bit too excited," Kate explained simply.

"Aha, so I heard."

"What do you mean?" there was something about Abby's smile that made Kate feel uneasy.

"A little birdie told me you and Gibbs have been making out in the gym last night."

"No, we weren't!"

"There's an eyewitness Kate."

"Who else knows about that?!" Kate sounded panicked.

"Just me and Harry the janitor," Abby told her. "When he came to clean up last night I figured right away that he must've just found out something juicy. His expression said it all. He didn't want to tell me at first but I managed to squeeze it out of him."

"Gibbs is gonna kill him when he finds out and I will gladly help him!"

"You'd better tell me how was it? Does he kiss good? I bet he does but I never kissed him so I can't really tell, but he just looks like a good kisser type to me, and he had three wives and I guess they would't have married him if he was lame at kissing, and..."

"Abby, stop!" Kate shouted grabbing Abby by the shoulders. "Did you just say Gibbs had three wives?"

"Yeah, he's three times divorced. All redheads, one nastier than the other. Tony picks on him about it all the time so I thought you knew."

"No, I didn't," said Kate somewhat sadly.

"So Kate, what about that kiss? Was it good?" Abby picked up the question again.

"There was no kiss Abs," Kate told her. "We were just boxing to help me burn the Caf-Pow! and then we stumbled and fell. When Harry came in, he saw me on top of him and assumed it wrong."

"Oh" Abby seemed disappointed.

"Nothing happened so drop the topic Abs and let's get to work," grumbled Kate and went to Abby's office taking the fluffy pink diary with her.

**§§§**

A few hours passed before Abby finally decided to go check with Kate.

"You're still mad at me?" she asked standing at the door of the office.

"I'm not mad at you," said Kate with a small smile. "I guess I'm just a little downcast, that's all."

"Is it about Gibbs's ex-wives?"

"Kinda."

"Making three times the mistake of marrying the wrong woman doesn't make him a bad guy Kate."

"It's not about that Abs. I suspected he could've been married considering his age and looks, although I didn't expect there to be as many as three exes."

"Then what's the problem?"

"They were all redheads Abs. I'm not," Kate pointed out.

"Oh poor baby!" Abby leaned over Kate and hugged her comfortingly. "Gibbs's head over heels for you even if you're not exactly a redhead"

"I don't know. He can be so confusing sometimes."

"He's not a simple kinda guy but If you really like him, don't give up on him just yet."

"Sometimes I feel like I love him and I hate him at the same time."

"Don't we all?"

Kate giggled and hugged Abby tighter. There was just something about the paradoxically happy goth that could instantly make her feel better even if she was in the deepest dumps.

"So, did you find anything interesting in that diary?" Abby asked her placing herself on the desk top.

"Plenty. Listen to this." Kate turned the pages. "_December 10. Today I met Mr B. He's nothing like the boys I usually date. He's not a boy anymore to start with. I don't even know his full name yet, but somehow I can't get him out of my mind._

"There's no clear mention of him until December 22. There she says:_ I don't know what to do. Jimmy is a good guy but sometimes he can be so immature. B, on the other hand, is a real man but sometimes I feel like there's more to him than he lets me know._

"_December 25. I received a Christmas gift from B. It was a necklace and it looked expensive too. On one hand I feel flattered, but on the other one I'm reluctant to accept gifts like that from him._

"She mentions B buying her various things a few more times and then there's this: _I told B once that when I was a teen I dreamt of being a model and when we met last week he had a surprise for me. He brought a digital camera and had me pose as if I were a real model._"

"I've seen those photos. The girl could totally rock the GSM magazine," Abby commented.

Both girls returned to the lab and Abby put up a set of photos on the plasma.

"Wow!" Kate gasped. "These are very... explicit."

"Yes, they are but that's not my point. Check this out." Abby put up another set.

"I think you clicked something wrong. These are the same pictures."

"No, they're not." Abby clicked the remote again and a few pictures appeared on the screen arranged in pairs. "Look closely Kate"

"The faces aren't the same."

"The photos on the left are originals portraying Alicia Baker, those on the right have been manipulated to make it look like the girl in them was Amanda Johnson."

"Perhaps he's a photographer?" Kate suggested.

"Not necessarily. Anyone these days can do some photoshop," Abby said. "Did you find anything else in that diary?"

"She mentions meeting up with B a few times but she never specifies the place and doesn't give any relevant detail on the man himself. Things get more interesting around the beginning of February." Kate opened the diary on another bookmarked page. "_February 3. Jimmy began suspecting I've been seeing another man. I thought about breaking up with him several times but somehow I couldn't bring myself to do it. We've been sweethearts since high school and I always thought I would marry him one day. B is amazing but I don't think we could ever have an actual relationship."_

"Why does she think so?" Abby wondered.

"Perhaps it's because of the age difference?"

"Like that's a real problem. Perhaps he's married?_"_

"He could be but the diary doesn't say it. The next mention of B is from the day after Moore's crash: _I just learned Jimmy's dead. They say it was a drink driving accident. I'm not surprised considering he's always had a bit of a drinking problem. How many times had I told him not to drink so much? I feel alone and guilty and the only person that seems to be there for me is B._

"_February 14._ _B says he's got a V-day present for me. He asked me to come and meet him at a motel outside town. I think he finally wants us to make love. _This was the last thing she wrote before she died."

"Poor girl," commented Abby sadly. "She seems really into this guy. How bad he turned out to be a psycho. "

"You know Abs, I can't shake the feeling that I've been all over this scenario before," Kate said frowning her brows in an attempt to place the deja vu that's been tormenting her since the beginning of the case.

"A young girl surrounded mostly by immature jerks and crushing over and older guy is a classic Kate," Abby said knowingly. "Back at college we had this professor, Mr Watson, who was like fifty something but he was really cute, you know, like Gibbs-cute, and he was just a really great guy and half the girls had the hots for him and..."

Suddenly something clicked inside Kate's head. "I've got it!" she exclaimed.

"You got what?" Abby asked a bit thrown off.

"I know why I was having the deja vu! I need to tell Gibbs asap! Thanks Abs!"

Kate ran upstairs but there was no one in the bullpen. She grabbed her cellphone and dialed Gibbs's number. The phone rang but he didn't pick up. She tried a few more times but got no answer.

She ran back downstairs to check if he was in autopsy but she found only Ducky in there.

"Is there something wrong Caitlin?" asked the ME noticing her excitement.

"I need to talk to Gibbs but I can't find him anywhere and he's not answering his phone," Kate told him.

"He's probably gone home and he could've set his phone silent by accident. You may have noticed that technology isn't exactly Jethro's forte."

"Ducky, I really need to speak to him. Do you have his home number?"

"Jethro doesn't have a landline but if this is so important you could always drop by his place."

"Wouldn't that be inappropriate?"

"Of course not. Jethro's friends and associates are always welcome in his house. We've all been there at least once for one reason or another."

"Okay then."

"Just wait a second my dear and I'll give you his address."

**§§§**

Upon arriving to Gibbs's house Kate noticed the lights were out but his sedan was parked in the alleyway so she figured he must have been home.

She jumped out of her car, climbed the front steps and with trembling hands she rang the door bell. She waited a couple of minutes and when there was no response she tentatively turned the handle. The door opened easily and Kate instantly drew out her gun in alarm.

Gibbs hadn't been answering the phone and now that he didn't answer the door bell either, she couldn't shake off the image of him getting assaulted and now lying somewhere in there wounded or even dead.

When she entered the house she heard some faint noises coming from the back. Following the sound she cautiously crossed the darkened hallway and the living until she was in the kitchen where she noticed a door in the far right corner. It was half open and a faint yellow light was pooling through the crack along with the voices of ZNN's news broadcast and a strange scratching sound she couldn't quite make out.

Peeking through the opening, Kate saw a wooden staircase leading to a large basement. There was a counter and some cupboards full with tools and various kinds of junk along the walls, a small old box TV sat on one of the shelves on the left, and in the middle of the room there was an impressive wooden construction and there was Gibbs vigorously sanding one of its ribs.

He looked different than usual in his beige cargo pants and a red hoodie that brought out the silver in his hair, Kate thought as her eyes lingered over his body. Mersmerized she watched him slide the sanding block up and down the wood in rough energetic strokes and then run his palm over it in the most tender of touches. She imagined what those hands, so strong and so gentle at the same time, could do to a woman's body, to her body and she felt a shiver run down her spine.

"You can come down if you like," Gibbs's voice brought Kate back from her reverie.

He quit sanding and turned around, boring his eyes into the door she crept behind, and a small smile appeared on his lips.

**§§§**

* * *

><p>Thank U everyone for the kind reviews. I really enjoy reading UR thoughts on the story and when U point out errors it's helpfull too so each and every review is very appreciated and the favs and follows too.<p>

Hope U enjoyed the chapter even if it's slightly shorter than the previous ones.

Just had to make Gibbs wear that red hoodie :D Don't we all love him in that one?

And Mr Watson is a hawtie prof from a song used in an ncis fan vid on YT (search mr watson ncis style)


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: NCIS and all things related are property of CBS and Bellisarius Productions**

* * *

><p><strong>HEARTKILL<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 6<strong>

Kate pushed the door open and came down the stairs, inhaling deeply the strange but pleasant scent that she'd noticed lingering around Gibbs and that she only now recognised as the smell of sawdust.

"Did you wanna shoot me?" asked Gibbs playfully, pointing out to the gun she was busy putting back into the holster.

"Honestly, I wanted to protect you," she confessed a bit embarrassed.

"Protect me? From whom?" he laughed.

"I don't know. Burglars? I found the door unlocked and thought someone had broken in."

"I don't lock the door."

"Why?"

"I can't hear the bell from down here."

"You know, when Tony told me you were building a boat, I thought he meant a miniature model," said Kate inspecting with awe the massive wooden skeleton.

"You can't sail a model boat," Gibbs pointed out watching Kate caress the polished ribs.

"You intend to sail it?" she asked him.

"When it's finished, yes," he replied and took up sanding again.

"How are you gonna get it out of the basement?"

"The same way I got out the other ones."

"Other ones? How many did you build?"

"This is the third."

"What happened to the other two?"

"Burned them."

"Why?"

"I named them after my ex-wives," said Gibbs frankly and when Kate didn't act surprised, he figured she must've already found out about the exes.

"How long does it take to build a boat?" she asked him instead.

"A few years," he replied

"It would probably take less if you used power tools."

"I like to feel the wood."

"Feel the wood? What do you mean by that?"

"Com'ere, I'll show you," He beckoned her with his index.

She hesitated a little but eventually she dropped her purse and coat on the stairs railing and came over to him.

"Here, take this." He placed the sander in her hands and pulled her in front of him.

Kate set the tool on the rib and Gibbs wrapped his arms around her and placed his palms over hers.

"Up and down, always with the grain," he instructed and led her hands as she tentatively rubbed the sander against the wood. "Put some more force into it," he added and forced her to push harder.

"Now close your eyes." He ran his palm over her eyelids, his fingers brushing her nose and lip on their way down. "What do you feel?" he whispered in her ear.

"I... I feel..." she stuttered.

She felt his firm body wrapped around her, his warm breath tickling the side of her neck and something hard pushing against her lower back.

Stop it, she scolded herself in her mind, it probably isn't what you think it is! It's probably just a hammer or some other tool he's got attached at his belt! Focus on the damn sander and the damn boat and answer him already stupid!

"The wood feels rough," she finally said.

"Uh-huh," he murmured softly against her neck.

"The sanding block is rasping against it when I pass it over."

"You don't get a sensation like that from a power tool." When he spoke his lips accidentally brushed against her sensitive skin and Kate felt her heart skip a beat.

She slowly turned her head and glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, her parted lips trembling slightly in anticipation.

Gibbs pulled the sander out of her hands and tossed it aside, then ran his palms up her arms and down her sides to rest them on her hips. He slowly turned her around, placing soft kisses along her cheek until he finally reached her mouth and tentatively brushed his lips agains hers.

Feeling her respond to his gentle caress, he deepened the kiss and pulled her flush against him. His fingers entangled in her hair as he explored her sweet mouth drawing a small whimper out of her throat.

Kate ran her hands up his shoulders and clasped them around his neck not trusting her legs to hold her as arousal built up inside her. She eagerly kissed him back, tasting the bittersweet flavor of liquor and black coffee on his lips when all of a sudden Gibbs pulled away.

"I'm so sorry Kate," he whispered weekly, resting his forehead agains hers.

"Never say you're sorry Gibbs, it's..."

"...a sign of weakness. I know."

Didn't he just prove himself weak when he kissed her?

"Katie, stop it," he quietly begged when she cupped his face and nibbled at his his lower lip. "You don't really want this."

"Yes, I do," she said with conviction looking him straight in the eyes. "I've been wanting this since I first saw you on that damn plane."

God! How could he resist her when she was saying things like this?

"Rule 12 Kate," he argued making use of his remaining active brain cells. "Never date a coworker."

"We're not coworkers," Kate pointed out. "I joined the FBI just so we wouldn't be. I thought I made that clear."

"Crystal," he chuckled, remembering their conversation at the coffee shop.

She smiled and tried kissing him again but he stopped her by putting a finger on her lips.

"We're on this case together and we need to stay focused. A young girl's life depends on it."

"You've made your point," Kate nodded in sign of understanding, "but sooner or later this case will get solved and then what?"

"Then..." He smiled and leaned over to whisper seductively in her ear, "Then you'll see"

Kate laughed and broke out of his grasp. Not so long ago she wished for this case to go on for as long as possible, but now she couldn't wait for it to be over.

Gibbs ran his fingers through his hair and walked to his workbench to pour himself a shot. He felt like he really could use one right now.

"Want some?" he asked Kate, and when she nodded 'yes' he passed her his mug.

Kate took a swig of the liquor and instantly choked.

"Hey, hey, hey, easy with that," he said taking the mug out of her hands. "You need to sip it"

"What was that?" she asked in between the coughs. "Paint stripper?"

"Bourbon. 125 proof."

"Tastes better on you."

"Don't go there Kate!" he laughed making a 'no, no' gesture with his finger. "You'd better tell me why are you here really?"

"I've been through Alicia Baker's diary."

"Found anything in there?"

"Not really but I think I may have figured out something important."

"Yeah?"

"I've been having a deja vu since the beginning of this case and when I was discussing the diary with Abby she went on about some hot teacher she had at college and something just clicked. I know where I've seen all this before!" Kate said with excitement.

"College?" Gibbs asked curiously.

"1994, my last year at Ohio State before I realized law was definitely not my thing and quit. That winter there was a murder on campus: a girl named Jessica Thorne was raped and strangled during a V-day party. They charged another student for the crime but rumor said that Jessica was having a secret relationship with an older married man and that it was him who really killed her. Funny thing is, Jessica's boyfriend died in a car crash about a week before."

"Too much for a coincidence if you ask me."

"I also thought it could be related somehow. Perhaps the killer's first two victims weren't the Philadelphia couple, perhaps it were those kids?"

"I don't know, but I think it's worth checking out," Gibbs said scratching his chin in thought.

**§§§**

_Thursday, Febrruary 12th 2004_

"What's wrong with this picture Probie?" said Tony watching Gibbs and Kate come out of the elevator.

"You mean, besides Gibbs looking like he's in a good mood?"

"The last time I saw him like that was right after Air Force One."

"Kate seems pretty happy too. Perhaps last night she and Gibbs..."

"Don't even say it!" Tony hissed before McGee could voice out his suppositions.

"Say what?" asked Gibbs striding into the bullpen.

"Nothing important boss!" Tony spat nervously.

"Pack your bags!" Gibbs announced. "We're going on a road trip"

"Where to boss?"

"Columbus."

"Why? What's in Columbus?"

"Two dead Ohio State students."

"College," Tony sighed and his eyes lit up in excitement. "I love college! The cheerleaders in their skimpy outfits, the frat parties and the best of all, the Spring Break..."

"Boss, what does the death of two students in Ohio have to do with our case?" asked McGee.

"They could be the first two victims of our killer," Gibbs explained. "The girl was raped and strangled and a week earlier her boyfriend died in a car crash."

"Same MO," McGee noticed. "Could be just a coincidence but..."

"We'd better check it out."

"Who tipped you about that boss? Fornell?" Tony inquired.

"I did," Kate cut in. "I was there when it happened in 1994. I knew it all along but only last night I made the connection."

"When did you tell the boss?" Tony eyed her suspiciously.

"This morning," Gibbs replied to him sternly.

"We accidentally met at Coffee Beans on our way to work," Kate added, shaking a familiar white cup to sustain her lie. Tony couldn't know she got that one from Gibbs only five minutes ago when they ran into each other in the parking lot.

"When are we leaving boss?" McGee asked

"I need one of you here at HQ," said Gibbs, his eyes darting back and forth in between Tony and McGee.

"Boss, you can't do that to me!" Tony exclaimed pleadingly.

"McGee..."

"Noooooo!"

"McGee, you stay at the office," Gibbs finished his thought. "DiNozzo, you're with me and Kate"

"Yessssss" Tony jumped out of his seat and Gibbs and Kate exchanged humored glances.

"Go pack a change of clothes. I want you back here in thirty," Gibbs ordered.

"On it boss!" Tony shouted and ran to the elevator as if he had his pants on fire.

He was already in his car starting the engine when suddenly a strange thought hit him. The boss and Kate didn't rush to do their packing which could only mean they had their bags already with them. How would they know to get ready? Unless...

"The hell she told him this morning!" he growled and drove out of the parking lot.

**§§§**

It was a seven hour drive from DC to Columbus, but with Gibbs at the wheel they got there in less than six.

Kate called shotgun two times out of three and Tony had to spend most of the ride crumpled in the backseat. He didn't complain though, because it turned out to be a great strategic spot from which he could easily observe his two coworkers.

He expected to catch some furtive glances, suggestive smiles, perhaps even a hand wandering to the other's thigh but nothing of the kind happened. Both Gibbs and Kate acted absolutely innocent, getting Tony into an even greater state of confusion.

Arriving in Columbus, they dropped their gear at the small apartment McGee arranged for them in the meantime and headed straight to the Columbus PD Investigative Subdivision Bureau.

The Deputy Chief agreed to collaborate and not only granted them access to Jessica Thorne's case file, but also offered to have his men take care of the shipment of all the physical evidence to Washington.

Packed with file boxes, the three agents returned to their apartment and spent the afternoon going through the case files.

Around 7 p.m. Gibbs left to get some dinner and Tony took it as an opportunity to taunt Kate.

"You know what I'm thinking Katie?" he purred.

"No, but I suspect it may involve a semi-naked woman," she spat. "And stop calling me Katie"

"You don't seem to mind when Gibbs does that."

"He makes it sound cute, you only make it sound disrespectful." She couldn't pass on the chance to get back at him by making him even more jealous of Gibbs than he already was.

"Anyways, I figured you can't have told Gibbs about this case only this morning." Tony scratched his chin as if in thought.

"I did."

"No, you didn't. Both you and Gibbs were packed and ready this morning which means the two of you must have discussed it earlier."

"Fine," she sighed in exasperation. "I told him last night."

"Why would you lie about it?" he inquired.

Whatever I say, he's not going to believe it, Kate thought and then it hit her. The best strategy to fool the nosy agent would be to actually tell him the truth.

"I lied because, when I went to his place to tell him, we ended up making out on his boat," she said as seriously as possible.

Tony stared at her perplexed for a moment and then burst into laughter. "Hahaha! You almost got me Katie Kitty," he said chuckling. "Seriously Kate, why did you hide you spoke to him yesterday?"

Before Kate could make up a plausible lie the door opened and Gibbs strode in.

"Who's up for pizza?" He placed two large, flat boxes on the table.

Tony instantly jumped at the food and Kate hoped the pepperoni and cheese would be enough a distraction for him to forget about their earlier conversation.

"So, what do we know about Jessica Thorne's death so far?" asked Gibbs grabbing a large pizza slice and shoving it into his mouth.

"On February 14th 1994, Jessica attended a V-day party on campus," Kate said. "According to eyewitnesses she left around 11 p.m. looking flustered and no one had seen her since."

"Later that night a couple of her friends coming back home from said party discovered her body in a small park nearby," Tony added.

"Their only suspect was Jimmy Carter, a fellow student who had a crush on Jessica. The two had been seen together at the party."

"Yeah, they'd been seen going to the upper floors," Tony rose his brows suggestively, "and the lab matched his DNA to that from the semen found on Jessica's body."

"Presumably Carter lured Jessica to a more secluded place and raped her, but she eventually broke free. He then followed her out of the party and strangled her either in rage or out of fear she could report on him."

"Eventually Carter confessed to the rape but not to the murder," Gibbs mumbled with his mouth full of pizza.

"Ha had no alibi for the time of her murder and there was some solid evidence pointing out to him," Tony noted. "He's currently serving a sentence at the Ohio State Penitentiary."

"Tomorrow we're gonna pay him a visit," Gibbs announced. "I'm very curious to hear his version of the story."

"Perhaps I could go talk to some of Jessica's college friends?" Tony suggested.

"I bet you could DiNozzo," Kate retorted, "especially the hot ones"

"If your theory about the 'mysterious killer lover' is true, her girlfriends are the most likely to know about it."

"Tony's got a point there Kate," Gibbs said making Tony grin proudly. "We need to split to gather the most information in the shortest possible time. I'll take Carter, the two of you go talk with the friends."

Kate and Tony nodded in agreement.

"Hey Kate," Gibbs added on a second thought, "you keep an eye on DiNozzo for me and if he goes to much off track, do this." He smacked Tony on the head.

**§§§**

It was past 3 a.m. but Kate was twisting and turning in her bed restlessly. As soon as she'd fall into slumber another loud snore coming out of Tony's throat would wake her up.

The flat they were staying in was small, it had only one bedroom with two single beds and Gibbs decided she and Tony would take them, while he'd sleep on the couch in the living room.

I should've insisted on taking the couch, Kate thought, getting up and heading for the bathroom. When she got out a couple minutes later, she spotted some movement with the corner of her eye and let out a stifled shriek.

"Shhh, it's just me," spoke a familiar voice.

"What are you doing up so late?" Kate whispered.

"What are YOU doing up so late?" Gibbs spat back sitting on his couch.

"Are you kidding me?" she snarked walking over to join him. "How am I supposed to sleep with Tony snoring like a bear? Gibbs, by any chance, do you snore?"

"I don't think so. Why?"

"I was just wondering in case we..."

"In case we what?" he asked looking her up and down with that cocky smirk of his.

"Nothing. Just forget I ever said that," she replied evasively.

"Nice pajamas you've got there." He chuckled at the pink polar fleece set she was wearing.

"It's winter Gibbs, and it's cold, and these are very warm and comfy," she defended her outfit.

"What are these?" He pointed to one of the white animals printed on the top. "Kittens?"

"Bunnies," she replied with a smile.

She looked so cute and fluffy and Gibbs felt like scooping her into his arms and snuggling into her as if she were a human sized plushie, but DiNozzo's grumbling snores kept him painfully aware of the other's agent's presence so he just brushed an invisible hair off Kate's shoulder and quickly retracted his hand.

"Why aren't you sleeping?" Kate asked him all of a sudden.

"Couldn't," he replied shortly.

"What's wrong Gibbs?" she could tell by his pose and that vacant look in his eyes that his insomnia wasn't only caused by his excessive intake of caffeine and Tony's snoring.

Gibbs exhaled deeply, leaned back oh the couch and fixed his eyes on the ceiling.

"We've only got one, perhaps one and a half days left to find out who this guy is," he said. "If we don't, we'll have to pass to plan B."

"You feel bad about turning Amanda into bait, don't you?"

"Yeah," Gibbs nodded his head.

He always found it hard to put someone's life at risk for the sake of solving the case but with Amanda it was even harder because in many ways she was what he imagined his own daughter could've been, had she lived.

**§§§**

_Friday, February 13th 2004_

Gibbs strode into the interrogation room of the Ohio State Penitentiary where a young man in a flashy orange overall was already waiting for him.

"Hello, I'm Special Agent Gibbs, NCIS," he introduced himself taking seat at the other side of the table.

"NCIS?" asked Jimmy Carter curiously.

"Naval Criminal Inve- "

"Investigative Service. I know what NCIS stands for."

"Most people don't."

"So, Agent Gibbs, what does NCIS want with me?"

"I need to know what happened on the night of February 14th 1994," Gibbs said calmly.

"Can't you just read the case file?" Carter spat at him.

"I already have, but I'd like to hear your version of the story."

"Why?"

"We suspect there may be a connection between Jessica Thorne's death ten years ago and a series of murders we are currently investigating."

"I can't be your killer." Carter rose up his arms to show the handcuffs at his wrists.

"I never said we thought you were." Gibbs attentively studied the man in front of him. "Honestly, I'm not convinced that you've even killed Jessica Thorne."

"I said countless times that I didn't kill her but no one ever believed me," Carter said bitterly.

"If you tell me the truth, I will believe you," Gibbs assured him.

"What's the point?" Carter clearly asked for an incentive.

Gibbs usually didn't deal with criminals but there was something about that young man, perhaps it was the regret in his eyes or the defeat in his voice, that convinced him to make an exception.

"The maximum penalty for rape on a victim over sixteen years of age is ten years, a time you have already served," he said. "If you help me catch the real killer, I could have your case reopened and the murder charges against you dropped, and you could be out of jail in no time."

"I have already wasted ten years of my life."

"Do you want to waste another fifteen?"

Carter looked long and hard into Gibbs's eyes until he finally asked, "What do you need to know Special Agent Gibbs?"

"Everything. Start from the very beginning. Tell me about you and Jessica. Were the two of you friends?"

"No, I don't think friends would be the best way to put it," Carter said and his eyes unfocused as he recalled his college days. "Jessica was the most beautiful girl on campus and I fell for her the moment I saw her. I tried getting close to her but she never even noticed me. She always hung out with popular kids and her second year she also started going out with Mike Wilkinson, the Buckeyes quarterback."

"What happened the night Jessica died?" Gibbs inquired further.

"There was a big V-day party in one of the dorms on campus. I wasn't invited of course, but I managed to sneak in because I knew Jessica was going to come and I wanted to talk to her. Wilkinson got drunk and crashed in his car a week or so earlier and I thought that, perhaps now that she was in need of a shoulder to cry on, she would give me a chance."

"Did she?"

"I thought she did. We went upstairs and just talked for a while. She opened up to me but when I tried to kiss her she pushed me away and then I lost it."

"You raped her."

"I did, and believe me Agent Gibbs, it's the thing I most regret in my life, and not just because it got me into jail. I really loved Jessica and I never meant to hurt her but that night I just lost control over myself."

"What happened afterwards?"

"Jessica ran out and I went after her. I didn't do it to finish her off like the police said, I just wanted to tell her that I was sorry, that I didn't mean to harm her. At some point I lost her in the crowd but then I spotted her going outside. I had no idea where she went but then I heard voices coming from a small park nearby and I recognized one of them to be Jessica's."

"Did you see who she was talking to?"

"It was a man I didn't recognize. He was older than us, perhaps forty or so, well built and about six feet tall. His hair was fair, either blonde or gray like yours, I couldn't tell in the dark. He also wore a uniform. It was dark, black or perhaps blue, with golden stripes on the sleeves. Now that I think about it, he could've been a Naval Officer."

"Did you ever see his face?"

"No. He was facing with his back to me," Carter said regretfully. "That's why the police never believed me. Since I couldn't tell them who it was exactly, they thought I'd made him up."

"Did you see that man strangle Jessica?"

"No. When I left the park she was still alive but I'm sure it was him who killed her."

"How?"

"He and Jessica were argueing. She accused him of murdering Wilkinson by rigging his drink to make him lose control of his car. She said she was going to tell that to the police."

"Looks like she never got a chance."

"Do you believe me Agent Gibbs?" Carter asked.

"Yes, I do," Gibbs nodded.

How could he not believe him? His description of the mysterious man and his MO matched that of their serial killer's. The problem was Carter didn't tell him anything that would clearly point out to anyone specific. The only relevant detail he provided was that the man could've been a Naval Officer but even that was just a supposition.

**§§§**

Kate and Tony parked their rented car in the alleyway in front of a beautiful two-story residence in New Albany, one of the wealthiest suburbs of Columbus.

Kate rung the door bell and got opened by a red-haired woman in her early thirties, wearing a heavy but very clear-cut make up, a pair of skinny jeans, a low cut cashmere sweater and high heeled Louboutins.

"Hello Samantha," Kate greeted the woman who stared at her dumbfounded.

Apparently Samantha didn't remember her, but she remembered Samantha oh to well. The two of them were never friends but there was no one at Ohio State that wouldn't know Samantha Bryce, now Samantha King after she'd married Harrison King, an over sixty years old, extremely rich entrepreneur.

"Do I know you?"

"Kate? Caitlin Todd?"

"Oh, yes of course! Look at how you've changed in those ten years," Samantha tried to hide she had absolutely no idea who Kate was. "I didn't expect you and your husband would come to visit."

"My husband? Him?" Kate glanced at Tony "Hell no!"

"I'm Very Special Agent DiNozzo, NCIS." Tony flashed Samantha his badge.

"NCI-what?" she asked cluelessly.

"Stands for Naval Criminal Investigative Service," Tony explained.

"I knew that!"

The hell you did you stupid goose, Kate thought.

"So you're a Navy cop Kate?" Samantha inquired.

"He is." Kate pointed to Tony. "I'm with the FBI."

"Do you mind if we come in?" Tony asked.

"No, not at all," Samantha purred, scanning Tony from head to toe. "May I know what do I actually owe this visit?"

"We'd like to ask you a few questions."

"About what?"

"Jessica Thorne," Kate told her. "You do remember her, don't you?"

"Yes, I remember her," Samantha said showing them to the living room. "We were best friends back in college."

"Tell us what happened at the V-day party in 1994," Tony requested.

"I saw Amanda talk to that loser, Jimmy 'what was his name' and then go upstairs with him. Half an hour later she ran out of the party with her clothes ruffled and make-up smeared and Jimmy followed her. I have no doubts that it was him who raped and then killed her."

"Did you see him do it?"

"No, but it was pretty obvious it was him."

"Samantha, do you remember who Jessica was dating at the time?" Kate asked.

"Sure I do." Samantha smiled at the memory. "Michael Wilkinson. He was a real cutie. What a shame he died in that car crush only a few days before Jessica's murder."

"Do you know if she was seeing anyone else besides Mike?"

"Yes, she was secretly going out with a few other men. It's no big secret that Jessie was a bit of a slut."

The pot called the kettle black, Kate thought. Samantha was famous for having slept with every other good looking guy on campus and even with some professors just so they would pass her on an exam, and Kate was also sure she didn't marry King out of pure unconditional love either.

"Miss King, did Jessica ever tell you about a Mr B," Tony questioned her.

"How do you know about B?" Samantha asked puzzled

"So there was a Mr B?"

"Oh yes, there was."

Kate and Tony exchanged excited glances. Finally, they were getting onto something.

**§§§**

"The coffee in Columbus sucks," Gibbs complained looking into his cup with disgust.

He, Tony and Kate were back in their apartment to have some lunch and discuss their morning interviews.

"Gibbs, to you any coffee that isn't from Coffee Beans sucks," Kate commented munching on her sandwich.

"My own ain't bad either," he replied smiling at her and then clapped his palms on his thighs and said, "Okay people! What did you find?"

"We hit the jackpot on our first interview boss," Tony said happily. "Samantha King, a very lovely lady with a very lovely, although fake décolleté told us lots of interesting stuff."

"Jessica Thorne wasn't exactly a faithful girlfriend," Kate informed him.

"Yeah, besides the formal boyfriend, Mike Wilkinson, Jessica was seeing quite a few other men, among them a certain Mr B," Tony added. "He was the father of one of the students and Jessica first met him when he came on campus to set some issues concerning his kid. They've been seeing each other since, in secret of course."

"Samantha didn't know his name but she told us that he was a lawyer, about forty years old, with graying hair and brown eyes."

"Carter told me that, when he followed Jessica out, he saw her argue with a man looking like that ," Gibbs said. "He was wearing a uniform and Carter thought that he could've been a Naval Officer."

"So was he a lawyer or a sailor?" Kate asked somewhat perplexed.

"Question: what kind of lawyer wears a Navy uniform?"

Tony's eyes suddenly lit up in realization and he said, "A JAG!"

**§§§**

* * *

><p>AN: Whoa, I thought I'd never finish this chap. I was very unsure at which point to cut it so all the chaps (including the upcoming ones) would look even. Not to mention the kissing bit was a pain in the ass to write. It's so easy (and pleasant) to imagine it but it's actually really hard to write down. About that, my observations let me to conclude that even if he's so badass Gibbs would be more on the sweet side in bedroom (or basement :D)

I know this chap was very Gibbs-Kate-Tony centered but I promise the other characters will return in larger quantities in the next chapters.

As usual thank U all for the reviews and the favs and the follows. I appreciate them very much.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: NCIS belongs to CBS and Bellisario**

* * *

><p><strong>HEARTKILL<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 7<strong>

"No way McGee, it can't be what it looks like," Abby argued staring intensely at the plasma screen in her lab.

"I don't know. It looks pretty obvious to me," McGee replied.

The two of them spent the last couple hours discussing a very confusing picture Tony sent McGee very early this morning. He must've shot it with his mobile phone camera because the image was low quality, dark and grainy, but the subjects were easily recognizable. There was Gibbs sprawled on the couch, his head thrown back, mouth slightly agape and a blissful expression on his face, and there was Kate lying next to him with her head on his lap, her messy dark hair making it impossible to tell which direction her face was.

"I'm telling you McGee, they're just sleeping," Abby defended her friends. "You wouldn't think they were onto something when Tony could walk on them any minute."

"Boss wouldn't try anything funny," McGee agreed, "but I'm not so sure about Kate, and she seems to be the naughty one in there."

"She's not that kind of girl!"

"How can you tell? You've known her for what, four days?"

"I know her enough to tell that she is so NOT giving him a blowjob!"

"Yes, she is. Just look at his face."

"That's his usual sleeping face. He's probably just having a nice dream."

"Yeah, I wonder what about..."

"You're a perv McGee!"

"Yeah, like you're not, Miss Vampire! You had me sleep with you in a coffin!"

"Sleep?"

"True, you had me have sex in a coffin which is even more disturbing!"

"Do I need to send the two of you to the sexual harassment meeting?" Gibbs's voice suddenly tumbling from the speakers made Abby and McGee jump.

"Hi Gibbs!" cheered Abby coming over to her computer so they could see each other on video. "Hi guys!" she greeted Tony and Kate lurking in the back. "How's Columbus?"

"We have some news," Gibbs told her. "Where's McGee?"

"Right here boss." The young agent came into the range of the webcam.

"You really had sex in a coffin McKinky?" Tony asked him grinning like crazy.

"It's not like that Tony!" cried they younger agent. "I didn't know it was a coffin! She told me it was a box sofa bed!"

"It was. Sort of..." Abby argued.

"McGee, when you're over the coffin trauma, I have a job for you," Gibbs said with an amused smirk.

"What do you need boss?" McGee asked trying to ignore Tony making faces at him behind Gibbs's back.

"Can you get into the Ohio State student records?"

"Sure thing boss. What should I look for?

"Pull a list of all the students admitted to Ohio State between '85 and '95 whose last name starts with 'B'. Then check if the father of any of them is, or was, a JAG lawyer."

"I'm right on it boss," McGee said and ran back to the bullpen.

"Abby, did you get the Thorne case evidence yet?" Gibbs asked.

"No, not yet, but-" Abby never finished as she got interrupted by a young man in a dark red overall walking into the lab.

"Sorry to bother you Abby," said Steve, one of the technicians from the evidence garage. "This just came for you from Columbus." He placed a large box on her table.

"Thank you Stevie," Abby said, flashing the shy techie a toothy smile. "Looks like the evidence is here yet afterall!" she chirped peeking into the box.

"Look through it, see if you can find anything that would point out to anyone other than Carter," Gibbs requested.

"Yes sir!" Abby saluted military style. "When are you guys coming back?"

"We should be there by the evening, and don't call me 'sir'," Gibbs said and quit the call.

Abby went through the box's contents just to get a general idea about what kind of evidence she'd be dealing with. She figured she'd start by matching DNA, so she took out the samples and set them for comparison.

While the DNA was being processed Abby run to the third floor.

"McGee," she interrupted the agent engaged in scanning through old student records, "do you think Gibbs heard us talk about the photo?"

"He didn't say anything about it," McGee noted.

"It doesn't mean that he doesn't know. He's Gibbs!"

"Well, if he does know then the one who's in the biggest trouble is Tony."

"You're right! He's gonna headslap his brains out for this!"

"What if he doesn't know?" McGee theorized. "What if he just heard the last part of the conversation, the one about the coffin?"

"Then we can't let him find out about this," Abby said with resolve. "We need to hide that picture in a place where Gibbs would never find it."

"How about an encrypted, password protected, hidden partition of your hard drive?"

**§§§**

"I performed the search you requested boss, and found out a total of four possible suspects," McGee said, putting up some photos and info on the plasma.

Gibbs, Kate and Tony were back from Columbus and they all gathered up in the bullpen to hear out about McGee's findings.

"We can rule out two of them right away," McGee continued. "Barnes died of heart failure in 1999 and Blackwell is currently sixty seven which makes him too old. That leaves us with Bellamy and Bellinger."

"Background," Gibbs requested.

"Paul Bellamy, age fifty-five, born in Bethesda, currently resident in DC, JAG since 1976. He's married with two children. His older son, John was admitted to Ohio State in 1988, currently works as a lawyer for a private company."

"He looks like the right type to me," Tony said studying Bellamy's photo. "What do you think Kate?"

"Huh?" Kate wasn't paying proper attention.

In her mind she was back in Columbus, where she woke up this morning as a gentle hand slid under her head, lifted it up, the warm body underneath shifted and her head was laid down again, this time on a pillow. She felt a blanket being pulled over her, and strands of her hair being brushed off her face.

Only when she heard fading footsteps had she dared open her eyes and saw Gibbs's back disappearing behind the bathroom door. She realized she must've fallen asleep on his lap last night and thanked God he was such an early riser. It would've been a disaster, if Tony found them like that, she had thought, but now, seeing McGee's occasional glances in her direction she wasn't so sure he didn't.

"Kate, what do you think about this Bellamy guy?" Tony asked her again.

"Well, " she began with a bit of hesitation, "he fits the general description: dark eyes, graying hair, six feet tall. The way he looks, I don't think he'd have much trouble attracting women."

"You think he's attractive?" Tony inquired curiously.

"He's older but he's handsome," Kate stated simply.

"What do we know about Bellinger?" Gibbs asked McGee, interrupting the exchange between Kate and Tony.

"Charles Bellinger, age fifty-two, born in Columbus, law graduate at Ohio State. In 1979 joined the JAG Corps and moved to DC. Wife deceased in 2000 of cancer. His only son, William was admitted to Ohio State in 1991 but never graduated."

"He fits the profile too," Kate said, checking out Bellinger's photo.

"Yeah, it could be either of them," Gibbs said and headed out.

"Where are you going?" Kate asked him.

"Lab," he shouted back.

Kate ran after him and managed to jump into the elevator before the door closed.

"Is it my impression or did she run after Gibbs just so she wouldn't be alone with us?" Tony wondered.

"She looked kinda uneasy before," McGee admitted. "Perhaps it's about the picture."

"Naaaah," Tony dismissed the idea. "They were both fast asleep when I took it."

"So she wasn't... you know..."

"Of course not Probie," Tony rebuffed, disgusted, "but I bet Kate wouldn't want it to come out anyways. We can use it to annoy her."

"If we use it against her she could tell Gibbs, and we'll be both out of here before we can spell NCIS."

"Fair point Probie," Tony reluctantly agreed.

"I have an idea," McGee said mishievously. "Kate's already suspicious of us so let's keep quiet about the picture and let her wonder whether we know something or not."

"That's gonna drive her crazy!" Tony exclaimed. "I knew there was a reason I liked you McDevious!"

In the meantime, down in the lab, Abby was telling Gibbs and Kate about her discoveries.

"The Thorne case is definitely related to the other killings," she said. "Among the evidence there was a golden fiber identical to the other two we found."

"What else?" Gibbs asked.

"There were two distinct samples of DNA from both sperm and material from under the fingernails," Abby announced. "One set definitely belongs to Jimmy Carter, the other probably to our killer."

"There were also a couple of hairs found on the clothes, but they're also Carter's. I'm still checking all of her things in case they missed something."

"That's a good job Abs," Gibbs praised her. "Now we only need a DNA sample from Bellinger and Bellamy for comparison."

"Aren't JAG lawyers in the Military DNA database?" Kate wondered.

"Sure they are," Gibbs confirmed, "but we don't have access to it unless it's for identification of a body, or for confirmation in case we have a valid suspect in an open investigation."

"Don't we have a valid suspect in an open investigation?"

"We have two potential suspects," Gibbs laughed bitterly, "and the evidence agains them is only circumstantial. Moreover, they are really suspects in a ten year old case out of our jurisdiction that we only presume to be tied to the actual case we're working on."

"So they won't grant us access to the database." It was more of a statement than a question.

"Nope." Gibbs shook his head. "Do you know what it means?"

"It means we hit another dead end," said Kate with pessimism.

"Noooo. It means we'll have to get a sample directly from the source." There was that confident smirk playing around Gibbs's lips again.

"How?" Kate wasn't convinced. "They're not going to give us their DNA just like that."

"I guess we'll have to get creative!"

**§§§**

_Saturday, February 14th 2004_

Gibbs and Kate sat in his car and watched the entrance of the JAG headquarters building.

Earlier in the morning the team had agreed that they would be getting a DNA sample from both suspects one way or another. They split into two groups: Tony and McGee went after Bellamy, and Gibbs and Kate after Bellinger. They also figured that it would be easiest to get a saliva sample, perhaps when the suspects would go out for lunch or for coffee.

Bellamy pleasantly surprised them turning out to be a smoker. Around 11 a.m. he left the office for a cigarette and as soon as he was back inside Tony and McGee snatched the butts he'd left behind and drove back to the Navy Yard to have Abby test them.

Gibbs and Kate didn't have as much luck. It was already noon and there was no sign of Bellinger.

"What if he doesn't come out?" Kate expressed her worry.

"He has to eat," Gibbs pointed out.

"What if he orders take-out?"

"Kate, have you ever seen a JAG slurping chinese noodles?"

"You slurp chinese noodles."

"Do I look like a straight-laced lawyer to you?"

"No, not with that hair," Kate laughed looking critically at Gibbs's fringe. "What is it with your hair anyways?"

"What's wrong with my hair?" he asked her making a dumbfounded face.

"Nothing. You hair is just-" she stopped mid-sentence when she spotted a familiar figure coming out of the JAG building. "There's Bellinger!"

"Told ya."

The lawyer got into his car and drove to a small restaurant a couple blocks away. Gibbs and Kate parked their sedan nearby and watched him take a seat at the window, order his food and eat.

"We need to get our hands on the dishes," Gibbs said thoughtfully, watching Bellinger through the binoculars.

Suddenly, he put the spectacles down and turned to Kate.

"What?" she asked him, his attentive scrutiny making her feel uneasy.

"I have an idea," he smiled. "Come on."

They got out of the car and Gibbs took her by the arm and they walked towards the restaurant.

"Act natural," he instructed.

They entered the place and took a seat near the exit, where Bellinger couldn't see them. A waitress appeared within the second and Gibbs ordered a strong coffee for himself and a lemon tea for Kate.

"Notice the waitress Kate?" he asked quietly, leaning over the table. "They all wear a white shirt and black pants just like you."

"I could pass for one of them," Kate said.

"Uh-huh," Gibbs agreed. "When Bellinger's done eating I need you to go and snatch his plate and glass before a real waitress does."

Kate nodded and when Gibbs gave her a go, she dropped her blazer and walked to Bellinger's table trying to look calm and confident as if she belonged there.

"May I take your plate sir?" she asked flashing the man a polite smile.

"Yes, of course." He pushed the empty plate to the side.

"Would you like another coffee?" Kate pointed to his cup.

"Yes, please."

Kate nodded, grabbed the plate and the cup and walked away. She brought everything to their table and placed herself in such a way to cover Gibbs quickly bagging and tagging the dishes. Kate hid the cup in her purse and Gibbs tucked the plate behind his belt and closed his blazer so it wouldn't show. He left a five dollar bill on the table for their drinks, they grabbed their gear and quickly walked out.

**§§§**

"I just realized I told Bellinger I was getting him another coffee," Kate giggled coming out of the elevator.

"Who knows, he could be still waiting for it," Gibbs chucked following her.

Laughing they walked over to the bullpen and noticed Fornell had made himself comfortable in Gibbs's chair.

"The two of you stick together like glue," sneered the FBI agent watching them come over.

"Relax Fornell," Gibbs said. "Soon you'll have your agent back"

"The cowboys here," Fornell pointed to Tony and McGee, "told me you're close to solving the case."

"We found two possible suspects," Kate told him. "The DNA analysis should confirm one of them to be the killer."

"Bravo!" Fornell clapped his hands.

"What's your news?" Gibbs asked him, assuming Fornell wouldn't take the effort to come to the Navy Yard just to say 'hello'.

"I just wanted to inform you that Amanda Johnson is spending the weekend at a friend's house in Georgetown," Fornell said and stuck a post-it with the address to Gibbs's monitor, "but considering the recent developments it's not important anymore."

"Probably, but don't call off your men just yet."

"I won't until you have the killer in custody. Keep me posted." Fornell got up and headed out.

"Kate, take these to Abby." Gibbs handled her the plate and cup. "Help her out if she needs anything."

Kate nodded, took the evidence and went downstairs.

"The two of you," Gibbs addressed his agents, "find me more about both our suspects: recent calls, movements, banking records, everything. We have to have a full picture for when we bring them in."

"On it boss!" the agents shouted together and instantly got to work.

Gibbs grabbed his coat and headed out to get a coffee refill.

When ten minutes later he entered Coffee Beans he was greeted by a sea of red. There were Valentine's Day decorations everywhere, threatening to make his eyes bleed.

With a sour face he stepped to the counter and asked the barista for the usual.

When the man busied himself preparing his coffee, Gibbs's attention turned to a display of various V-day gadgets. His thought trailed off to a couple days before, when in autopsy Kate said she had a grudge against Valentine's Day because she never got a gift for the occasion which made her feel worse than the other girls.

He told the barista to prepare him one more coffee, not as strong and with milk and sweetener and went to rummage through the disgustingly cheesy, fluffy, red toys.

**§§§**

Kate's phone rang and the display showed her it was Gibbs.

"Hello?" she picked up.

"Kate, come to the park outside HQ. I need to talk to you asap," Gibbs told her over the phone.

"Why? What happened?" she asked preoccupied.

"Just come outside, okay?"

"Okay, I'll be right there."

Kate rushed upstairs to grab her coat and run outside. She spotted Gibbs sitting on a bench in a small green area right outside of the NCIS headquarters building and walked over to him. Seeing her approach he stood up and walked out to join her.

"Gibbs, what's going on?" She looked up at him with worry.

"Happy V-day Kate," he said simply and handled her a cup of coffee. Hanging on the straw there was a key ring with a red plush heart with 'I love you' written on it.

Kate stared at the coffee, then at Gibbs, then at the coffee again and the worry on her face turned into joy. Her eyes lit up and her smile brought out the cute dimples in her cheeks and looking at her Gibbs thought just how beautiful she was.

"Thank you," she said happily and then got on her tiptoes and pecked him on the cheek.

"Is that fluffy enough?" he mocked, trying to hide his slight embarrassment at the unexpected kiss.

"Definitely!" she laughed.

She noticed there was some lipstick on his cheek and she brought her free hand to his face and tried wiping it out. It came off easily but she continued gently brushing her thumb over his skin, looking straight into those electric eyes of his and thinking just how much she wanted to taste his lips again.

"Kate..." He took her hand and brough it back down. "The case is almost over," he said as if he could read her thoughts.

"Yeah," she mumbled, "we should probably go back inside and see if Abby has any results yet."

"Uh-huh," Gibbs agreed and they headed back to the building.

Kate took the key ring off the straw, hid it in her pocket and squeezed the puffy heart with childish glee. Killer or no killer, this was definitely the best V-day of her life.

A couple of minutes later they strode into the squad room and Gibbs asked his agents for a sitrep. Tony and McGee informed them that they didn't find anything particularly suspicious about any of the two men so they just sat down at their posts intent on helping them dig deeper.

In the next couple hours the agents performed more check-outs and discussed their ideas about the case until Abby finally called for them to come down to the lab.

"Ding, ding, ding! And the winner is..." the goth announced to the four of them, "Mr. Charles Bellinger!"

"Ha! I always thought he had a psycho face!" Tony exclaimed.

"Ten minutes ago you were convinced it was Bellamy," McGee retorted.

"I matched Bellinger's DNA to the sample from under Jessica's fingernails," Abby continued, "and a small blood sample I found on her dress that must've gone unnoticed by whoever handled this evidence before me."

"That's great job Abs," Gibbs told her giving her a fresh cup of Caf-Pow!.

"I still need to match his DNA to the second sample from the sperm but it will take a few more hours."

"That's okay Abs. We've already got enough to bring him in."

**§§§**

"What makes you think that I would be involved in any way with this, what was her name again? Jessica Thorne?" Bellinger inquired trying to sound calm and confident.

"Oh, don't pretend like you don't know her." Gibbs wasn't fooled by the JAG's apparent composure.

He could tell Bellinger was nervous, not to mention he perfectly fit into the killer's profile. He was a handsome, gray-haired, dark-eyed man in his early fifties but he looked younger, especially his manicured, smooth, almost feminine hands, a detail that Amanda Johnson mentioned in her description of her stalker. He was also intelligent but carefull, possessed a higher education degree and a respectable job just like they thought the killer would.

"I don't recall ever knowing any Jessica Thorne," Bellinger insisted.

"Let me refresh your memory," Gibbs said. "1994, Columbus, Ohio. You have a clandestine fling with a beautiful young student of Ohio State. At some point something goes wrong, Jessica accuses you of murdering her boyfriend, and who knows, perhaps you really did. You can't let her tell on you so you strangle her and it turns you on so much that you also rape her."

"You're one sick bastard Gibbs."

"No. You are."

"I didn't do any of this," Bellinger kept on denying.

"You thought you were alone in that park, didn't you?" Gibbs smirked.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"We have a witness who can confirm your presence at the crime scene at the approximate time of Jessica's death and we also found traces of your DNA on her body, so quit playing dumb!" Gibbs yelled slamming his palms on the table.

"I won't say anything without the presence of my attorney," Bellinger changed strategy.

"You have the right not to. The thing is, whether you confess or not, we've got you nailed. As a lawyer you'd know that the evidence we have against you has a pretty good chance of holding up in court, and once we match your DNA to that found on the other girls you'll be facing death penalty for multiple aggravated murders, stalking and rape."

"What other girls?" Bellinger's surprise looked so genuine that it got Gibbs off track for a second but then he realized lawyers were usually pretty good actors.

He opened his file and took out the pictures of the three most recent female victims and displayed them on the table for Bellinger to see.

"Alicia Baker, Anna Stuart, Patricia Miller," he presented them. "And let's not forget this year's designated victim, Amanda Johnson." He added a fourth photo.

"I don't know any of them," Bellinger said with conviction.

"Oh yeah, just like you didn''t know Jessica."

"Fine Gibbs, I did know Jessica, but I have no idea who these other girls are. I have never seen them in my life."

That's a start, Gibbs thought and then said out aloud, "Tell me what happened on V-day 1994."

Bellinger kept quiet.

"No? That's okay. I already know the story anyways." Gibbs got up from his chair, scooped the photos into the folder and headed for the door.

"Wait!" Bellinger stopped him at the last moment.

Gibbs returned to his seat and gave the JAG a quizzical look.

"Back in '94 Jessica and I had a short affair," Bellinger finally confessed. "When I first met her on campus she explicitly flirted with me and I fell for it. We'd occasionally meet when I visited Columbus, but it was nothing serious.

"We kept our relationship quiet but Jessica's boyfriend, Mike Wilkinson found us out and blackmailed me. I was married, and as a respectable lawyer I couldn't afford a scandal so I asked him to meet me for a drink so we could discuss a deal. He drank a lot that night and ended up in a car crash, but Jessica thought I had rigged his drink to get rid of him.

"She asked me to meet her in a small park on campus on the 14th when everyone would be at the V-day party so they wouldn't notice us. We fought and she accused me of killing Wilkinson and threatened to go to the police. I couldn't let her so I began strangling her, but only to scare her. I continued for only long enough to make her pass out."

"Well, you must have miscalculated," Gibbs said sarcastically.

"No! When I left her in that park she was unconscious but alive!"

"Your story seems a bit far-fetched to me," Gibbs said getting up. "Perhaps a night spent in custody will convince you to tell me the whole truth."

"I swear I didn't kill her!" Bellinger cried out, but Gibbs was already leaving the room ignoring his continuing protests.

**§§§**

The door bell rang and when Amanda Johnson peeked through the peephole she immediately recognized the NCIS Special Agent she had talked to a few days earlier.

"Agent Gibbs, how did you know I was staying here?" she asked opening the door.

"Hey, I'm a Federal Agent, I've got my ways," Gibbs laughed. "Can I come in?"

"Yes, sure." Amanda let him inside.

"I have some good news," he said. "We finally found out the identity of the killer and we currently have him in custody."

"Really?"

"Uh-huh."

Amanda screamed in joy and threw herself at Gibbs almost making him fall backwards.

"It's over Amanda," he whispered rubbing her back comfortingly.

"Thank you Agent Gibbs," she said letting go of him.

"You're welcome." He flashed her a smile and headed for the door. "Take care," he said and left.

When half an hour later he strode into the bullpen he only found Kate there.

"DiNozzo?" he asked her.

"He slipped out when you were gone," she informed him skipping the part in which Tony tried convincing her to go on a V-day date with him but she categorically refused.

"McGee?" Gibbs inquired about his other agent.

"Down in the lab helping Abby."

"What are you up to?"

"Wrapping up my report for Fornell."

"Yeah, I should probably get some paperwork done too." Gibbs went to his desk and started his computer.

About an hour later Kate finally got up and stretching her arms she announced," I think I'm gonna call it a day."

"Yhm," Gibbs mumbled watching her put her coat on, grab her purse and head out of the bullpen.

"Goodnight Gibbs," she said throwing him one last glance.

"Night Kate," he replied and pretended to get back to work but before she was gone he shouted, "Hey Kate!"

She turned around and looked at him questioningly.

"Do... Do you like steak?" he asked her out of the blue.

"Are you inviting me to dinner?" she asked back.

"Yes."

"Where are you taking me?"

"My place."

"Your place?"

"It's V-day Kate. We'd spend the whole night driving around before we could find a free table."

"Make it your place then. By the way, I love steak."

"Beer or wine?" he questioned her further.

"Wine," she decided.

"Oh!"

"You don't have wine, do you?" she laughed at his troubled expression.

"Nope, but that only means we'll have to stop by the liquor store on our way down."

"Won't your girlfriend mind that you spend V-day with me and not her?" Kate inquired.

"My girlfriend?"

"You know, the elegant red haired woman in the silver convertible that picked you up at the airport back in September?" Kate clarified.

"Oh, her!" Gibbs figured who Kate was talking about. "We're just friends."

Kate raised one brow at him unconvinced, so Gibbs explained it further, "She's the naval engineer who designed my boat. We've known each other for years but we've never been anything other than good friends."

Kate smiled, relieved that the mysterious redhead was't Gibbs's girlfriend after all.

"So Kate? You're gonna have that dinner with me or not?" he asked her again.

"I would love to," she replied making Gibbs's lips curl up not in his trademark cocky smirk but in real, wide, sincere smile.

**§§§**

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><p>AN: Thanks everyone for the reviews, the follows and the favs! I appreciate both praise and critique if it's constructive.

About the redhead being an engeneer, I got the idea from at the beginning of the episode 'Heart Break' where she's studying Gibbs's boat blueprints.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: NCIS and all things related belong to CBS and Bellisarius Productions**

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><p>AN: The rating officially jumps to M! Adult content warning. If anyone feels offended or anything, just skip the first half of this chapter. Otherwise, enjoy!

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><p><strong>HEARTKILL<strong>

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><p><strong>Chapter 8<strong>

"Go make yourself comfortable," Gibbs told Kate when they arrived to his house. "I'll be there in a minute."

He ran to the backyard and Kate went inside, took off her coat and moved to the kitchen to look for some wine glasses. As she rummaged through the cabinets, Gibbs came back bringing some wood, kneeled in front of the fireplace and started up a fire. By the time he finished, Kate found the glasses and poured them some wine.

"What do we drink to?" Gibbs asked her as she passed him a glass.

"To the end of the case?" she suggested with a seductive smile.

"To the end of the case," he agreed and clinked his glass with hers.

They both took a few sips, then Gibbs set his glass on the coffee table and went to get the steaks. Crouched on the couch, Kate watched him prepare the meat and then place it over the blazing fire.

As the beef slowly roasted, Gibbs joined Kate on the couch and they engaged in casual conversation. She told him about her life back in Indiana, about the fights with her four older brothers and about her father who liked to work the wood just like him, but never build anything as large and complex as a sailboat. Gibbs listened to her but wasn't quite as eager to share stories about his own past and was grateful when she didn't try to force the information out of him like some of his exes did.

In the meantime the steaks got ready, Kate helped Gibbs set the table and they sat down to eat.

The conversation moved onto a more neutral ground like their interests, taste in books, movies and music, and also their work. They had a good time making fun of McGee and DiNozzo and obviously Fornell, and Kate thought that, when he relaxed, Gibbs wasn't quite as grumpy as his agents depicted him. She wasn't even disappointed anymore that he didn't take her to a fancy restaurant, especially because the food turned out to be absolutely delicious.

"I think this was the best steak I had in my life," she praised him scooping up the last bite off her plate. "Who would've thought you were such a good cook?"

"Hold the compliments Kate," he laughed taking their empty plates back to the kitchen. "Roasting steak is my only culinary achievement!"

"Don't forget you also make good coffee," she reminded him, walking back to the living .

She threw some more wood into the fire and extended her hands towards the flames enjoying the warmth.

Gibbs joined her in front of the fireplace. "I thought you didn't like my coffee," he said.

"It's a bit strong," she admitted, making a step towards him, "but I like strong, if you add some sweetness to it."

Looking into Kate's eyes sparkling with mirth, Gibbs wasn't sure she was talking just about the coffee. "I'll take it as a suggestion," he purred into her ear, placing his hands on her hips and drawing her closer.

Kate slowly ran her fingers up his chest exploring it curiously through the fabric of his shirt, until she rested them on his shoulders. Her gaze set on his mouth and she lifted her head parting her wanting lips in silent encouragement.

Taking the hint, Gibbs leaned over and playfully nibbled at her lips bringing an inch of distance between them each time she tried to deepen the kiss. His teasing was driving her insane and, when she felt she couldn't take it anymore, she clasped her hands behind his neck and brought his head down crushing her lips with his.

She felt him grin and his tongue grazed her lips demanding access. She willingly opened up for him and he kissed her deeply and sensuously, setting her senses ablaze. She returned the kiss with the same passion and need, clutching her hands into his shirt and pulling him towards the couch.

Kate's knees hit the edge and their mouths broke apart when she fell backwards, dragging Gibbs down with her. He rolled to the side bringing her over his lap and she straddled his hips, the feel of his growing arousal sending a wave of heat down her core.

She cupped his face and kissed him tenderly, tugging his shirt out of his pants, but Gibbs grabbed her by the wrists impeding her from continuing.

He wanted to tell her that it was wrong, that she'd regret it in the morning, but the words died in his throat at the sight of her eyes clouded with burning desire. He let go of her hands and she slowly pulled his shirt over his head and brushed her small, delicate fingers over his torso and abdomen.

"Very nice for a man your age," she said appreciatively, tracing the faint outline of his muscles. "Sanding your boat must be one hell of a workout."

"It is," he agreed caressing her sides, "but tonight I'd rather engage in different kind of exercise."

"Really?" she arched her brow.

"Oh yes, but I will need a partner. Care to join in?"

"Depends. What's the training plan?"

He beckoned her closer with his finger and began whispering into her ear all the things he was about to do to her, biting at her earlobe in between words, and she flushed with excitement. Her breath became more erratic and she let out a soft moan when she felt his lips move onto her neck, kissing and licking a burning trail across her sensitive skin.

Kate's reaction to his touch was turning Gibbs on to an impossible extent. She was so sweet and sexy at the same time and he couldn't get enough of her.

"You taste amazing Kate," he said huskily into her neck, his fingers fiddling with the buttons of her shirt. He managed to undo a couple and slid her shirt down her shoulder kissing the newly exposed skin.

"Hmm..." He noticed the strap of her bra and traced it curiously with his finger.

Suddenly he grabbed Kate by the bottom and lifted her up with close to no effort. He shifted their bodies on the couch and laid her down flat on her back.

Surprised by the unexpected change of position, she breathlessly watched him struggle with the remaining buttons, until finally he tore her shirt open. He brushed his fingers from her collarbone, across the gentle swell of her breast and down her flat stomach to the hem of her pants. He carefully undid the button and the zipper and slid them down her legs.

"Wow," he swallowed hard at the sight of her beautiful body clad in an elegant lace lingerie set, the fiery red contrasting nicely with her creamy skin. "Looks like DiNozzo was right about you."

"WHAT?!" She instantly jumped up feeling her face turn the same color of her underwear.

"I meant the outfit," he explained playing with a small ribbon adorning her bra.

Something clicked in Kate's head and she remembered Tony blabbering something about red lace when she and Gibbs came back from coffee her first day at NCIS.

"He was talking about me?!"

"Why do you think I smacked him so hard?" Gibbs chuckled, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her in for another kiss.

Feeling her slowly relax in his arms again, he laid her back down, never breaking his sensual exploration of her mouth. One of her legs wrapped around his waist, pulling him closer and he ground his hips hard into hers, rubbing his hard member against her sensitive folds through the fabric of their clothes. She cried out at the sensation but the sound was stifled by his mouth.

Consumed by growing desire, she tugged at his belt and managed to unbuckle it by the time he got up on his knees and blocked her hands.

"Not yet Katie," he panted pinning her wrists above her head.

He wanted her badly, but he needed her as ready for him as possible before he'd let himself give in to his own longing. She was so small compared to him and the last thing he meant was to cause her pain. Not to mention he desperately wanted to prove to her that, even if he wasn't as young and vigorous as her past lovers must have been, he still could take her over the edge.

"Tell me Kate, what do you like?" he asked her, one of his hands still holding her arms in place, the other gently stroking her hair.

"I... I like..." she stammered.

His question had taken her by surprise and she didn't know how to respond. None of the men she had slept with before ever asked her about that, they just did whatever they felt like doing, and most of the times she enjoyed it too.

Sensing her distress, Gibbs kissed her cheek softly and said, "We have all evening to discover that".

If for some reason she couldn't or wouldn't give him any directions, he'd simply let his instincts and her reactions guide him.

He sat her in between his legs with her back to him and moved her long silky hair to the side. Nudging his nose into her neck, he pulled her shirt down her shoulders and used it to tie her hands behind her back, making her gasp in shock.

Kate felt embarrassment wash over her when she realized how much his action had actually turned her on. Her heart raced and her inner muscles fluttered in anticipation of his next move.

Gibbs unclasped her bra and pulled it over her head, letting it slid down her arms until it hung loose around her bound wrists. He began to slowly explore her body and Kate closed her eyes savoring the gentle touch of his callous fingers running up and down her arms and over her shoulders, tracing the length of her spine and caressing her neck.

Wrapping his arms around her, he cupped her small, perky breasts and Kate arched her body into his hands letting out a sigh. Encouraged by her response he continued his teasing, rubbing and pinching at her nipples until they hardened under his touch.

His left hand moved to her jaw, guiding her head until their lips reconnected, while the right one slipped into her panties and he smirked in satisfaction discovering how wet she already was.

Another whimper escaped Kate's throat as she felt Gibbs work his way in between her tender folds. She writhed under his touch, as he slowly pleasured her pushing her into oblivion with every skillful stroke of his fingers.

She felt his impressive erection pushing against her lower back and she struggled against her bonds, desperate to touch him.

"Gibbs, please," she begged feeling her inner walls begin to contract deliciously.

She was so close it would've taken just one more stroke to push her over the edge, and she loudly protested, when Gibbs retracted his fingers at the last moment, leaving her hanging.

He unbound her and she turned around, her hands going immediately to his pants. She stroked him through the fabric, drawing a low groan out of him, but before she could pull the distracting garment off his hips he stopped her again.

"Wait for it Katie," he said hoarsely, forcing her to lie back down and claiming her mouth again, the devouring kiss swallowing any upcoming words of protest.

Kate's trembling fingers went to play with the short hair at the nape of his neck, as he kissed a path down her body. His hot mouth closed around her breast, his teeth lightly grazing her nipple and she wriggled underneath him, breathing in sharply. His lips descended further south, his hands following their path and she sensed the tension raise within her with every inch he made.

"Don't," she pleaded weekly, when he reached the hem of her panties.

Gibbs raised his head to meet her eyes and gave her a quizzical look. That would be the first time a woman wouldn't want him to pleasure her orally.

"You never...?" he hazarded a guess.

"Oh no, I did it before," she said biting her lips nervously. "It's just that..."

She didn't like it, he thought surprised. As far as his experience went, women loved it and he was intent on proving her, she would too.

"Trust me Kate, I'll make it good," he promised slipping his fingers underneath the thin lace straps holding her hips.

Kate shut her eyes tight as he slowly slid her panties down her legs and kissed his way up from her ankle to her thigh. He repeated the process on her other leg, but this time he continued further up and Kate gasped when she felt his hot breath tickle her wet core. He brushed his thumb over her folds to reveal her clit and gave it a thorough stroke with his tongue.

"Oh God!" Kate cried out at the sensation. This felt nothing like the other times, this was pure heaven.

"You like this?" he asked even if her reaction had already given him the answer.

"Uh-huh," was all she managed to utter as his tongue and fingers kept on teasing her in an erotic torture.

Her hips buckled upwards and he had to steady her with his hands as he licked, sucked and gently nibbled her sweetest spots. She clutched her hands into the blankets, feeling her orgasm build up inside her again. She was already on the verge, when suddenly he pulled away at the last second like he had before, making her cry out in frustration.

He pulled himself up and let his gaze slide over her naked form. She was panting heavily and her body was sweaty and shaking, as if she were consumed by a fever and a content smirk graced his lips, when he thought it was all his doing.

He reached to the back pocket of his pants for his wallet, where he had stashed a condom he bought just in case, but Kate stopped him.

"Let it go Gibbs. I take the pill," she told him, struggling impatiently with his button and zipper.

He just nodded and helped her undo his pants and pushed them off along with his boxers. Kate took his cock into her hands, stroking and squeezing her fingers along the length and a low hiss escaped his mouth.

"Kate, stop it," he groaned, when he felt her her tongue graze the tip. "Leave it for next time," he said afraid that, if she took him into his mouth, he wouldn't be able to hold himself for long.

He forced her back down spreading her legs and, careful not to crush her, he lay on top of her.

"I want you," she whispered locking her eyes with his and he took her words as cue, and entered her in one swift motion.

She winced at the intrusion, and Gibbs cursed himself for not having been gentler. She was even tighter than he thought and he stilled himself for a moment allowing her to adjust.

He buried his face in the crook of her neck, seducing her again with tender kisses and when she softened under his caress, he began to slowly move inside her.

Their breaths grew shallower as he gradually increased the pace, rubbing his pubic bone harder and harder agains her swollen clit.

"More," she begged feeling a shockwave hit her with his every thrust.

"More fast or more hard?" he asked, his voice raspy with arousal.

"More of everything," she panted, her mind completely blank.

He shifted slightly and pulled her leg further up, the new angle allowing him to go a bit deeper. He pushed into her again and again, as hard and fast as he could go without losing control, and finally he felt her inner walls pulse around him.

Kate cried out loud and dug her fingers into Gibbs's back as she came harder than ever before. He kept on thrusting in and out of her in rhythm with the clenching of her muscles, prolonging her orgasm until he met his own release.

Exhausted, he collapsed into her, panting heavily and waited for the throbbing in his loins to subside before getting out and rolling them over.

"Wow," Kate murmured burying her head into his chest.

"Yeah, that's what they all tell me," he joked.

"Arrogant!" she accused him pouting her lips.

Gibbs laughed and caressing her cheek tenderly he said, "They all thell me, but right now I only care that you do."

**§§§**

"I see my dear Abigail that you also will be spending Valentine's Day alone," said Ducky, coming into Abby's lab.

"Not quite," the goth replied with a smile. "I have McGee to keep me company. He just ran upstairs for a moment to get us both a Caf-Pow!. We're definitely gonna need an extra kick tonight, 'cause I still need to recheck some evidence."

There was a bing of the elevator and suddenly McGee burst into the lab, looking quite excited.

"Abby, you won't believe what I saw!" he called. "Oh! Hi Ducky," he added, taking notice of the old ME's presence.

"Hello Timothy," greeted him the doctor and then asked, "What was it that you saw my dear boy, that got you so agitated?"

"Well, I didn't really see it, just heard it," he straightened out.

"Spit it out McGee!" Abby rushed him snapping a cup of Caf-Pow! out of his hand.

"Gibbs asked Kate out for dinner!" McGee announced proudly.

"Really?"

"Well, not exactly out, because he asked her to come over to his place".

"Did she accept?"

"She did."

"Oh my!" Ducky exchanged a knowing look with Abby.

"Sorry Ducky," she said patting him on the shoulder. "It appears you're going to be the only one without a date tonight."

"I do not intend to weep over it," Ducky replied smiling. "I am sincerely happy for our dear Jethro and for Caitlin. I always believed that they could do each other a lot of good."

"Poor Tony though," McGee giggled. "He so couldn't get over the fact Kate didn't want to go on a date with him. I can't wait to see his face, when he finds out she went out with Gibbs instead."

They spent some more time laughing at Tony's possible reactions to Gibbs's and Kate's romance, until eventually Ducky decided it was time for him to go. He wished Abby and McGee a happy Valentine's Day and left the lab.

As soon as the ME was gone Abby got back to work setting up the samples for yet another DNA comparison test.

"Abby, do you really need to work tonight?" McGee asked, wrapping his arms around the goth's waist and placing a kiss over the spiderweb tattoo on her neck.

"I do McGee," she told him shivering slightly at his caress.

"We caught the killer. Check-ups can wait till morning."

"I ran Bellinger's DNA against the second sperm sample and it didn't match," Abby sounded a bit worried.

"She could've just had sex with somebody else that evening," McGee suggested.

"True, but there's more. None of the prints found in the motel room where Alicia died, nor any of those from Kattrall's car are Bellinger's, not even the partial from the matches."

"He's a JAG. He'd know to wear gloves."

"You're right, but still, something's hinky her," Abby couldn't give it a rest. "I won't leave before I match Bellinger's DNA to that from the remaining samples."

"Abby, the DNA will process for hours and it's V-day. Come on! Even Gibbs will get some tonight!"

"And so will you." Abby smiled wickedly and went to close the door. "As you said, it will take hours before we get the DNA restults." She send him a playful wink.

"You don't have another coffin in your office, do you?" McGee asked suspiciously.

"Nope, but I do have a futon." She made a pirouette making her plaid skirt fly around her hips and McGee caught a glimpse of her black panties.

He immediately followed her into the back office and together they dragged her futon out.

"Just wait one more sec," she told McGee who was already pulling her clothes off. "The director finally got me the funds for this new software I needed to get something out of that surveillance video from the motel," she explained, sitting at her computer.

She ran the program and set it up to work, and then she rejoined McGee on the futon.

Hours slowly passed, the DNA processed, the software rendered the image pixel by pixel, while Abby and McGee engaged in every sort of erotic games to the sound of gothic rock, until they got interrupted, not by an electronic beep but loud banging on the lab door.

"Abby? Are you in there?" called out Tony's voice.

"Just a moment!" Abby dressed up in a flash and ran to open up.

"Hey Abs, why did you close the door? You never close the door!" Tony said trying to peek inside.

"Why do you think?" She gave him a look that said it all.

"Oh! I get it" he said showing a full set of teeth in a wicked smile. "Show yourself Probalicious!"

"What are you doing here Tony?" asked McGee coming out of the office fully dressed. "Weren't you supposed to be on a date with... err.. Pam?"

"I was." The grimace that appeared on Tony's face was proof something didn't go quite as he had expected.

"What? She's married? Pregnant? Doesn't shave?" McGee tried to guess.

"She's a he?" Abby chucked.

"God no!" Tony exclaimed in horror. "She just..."

"She just... what?"

"She likes it weird, okay?"

"What do you mean 'weird'?" McGee wanted to know.

"I don't want to talk about it." Tony looked positively traumatized.

"Poor baby." Abby hugged him and rubbed his back comfortingly.

"I thought seeing Gibbs snoring in his chair, spending V-day only in the company of his beloved coffee would lift up my mood, but he wasn't there." He snuggled into Abby's neck annoying McGee even more.

"Oh yeah," said the younger agent ready to get back at him. "He and K-"

"He went home," Abby cut in. She couldn't let McGee tell Tony about the happy news, that to him wouldn't be quite as happy, when he was feeling so downcast already.

A loud beep announcing the DNA had finally processed successfully distracted everyone from the topic of DiNozzo's failed date.

Abby ran to check the results and her eyes widened in a mix of surprise and terror.

"Not a match," DiNozzo noted, peeking curiously over her shoulder.

"No," she whispered, her voice shaky.

"Whose DNA did you run?"

"Bellinger's against the sample from Patricia Miller's dress and the one from under Alicia Baker's fingernails."

Suddenly there was another loud beep. It was Abby's new program that finished up the video enhancement process.

Abby grabbed the remote and put it up on the plasma. She, Tony and McGee watched the recording breathlessly, their attention focused on the person approaching the counter.

The angle was far from perfect, but the software did its job removing most of the noise and filling in the missing pixels and making it possible to make out the features of the person in the video.

"That's not Bellinger," McGee said, the implications of their discoveries hitting him like a bolt. "We've got the wrong guy!"

"He's definitely implied in Jessica's murder, but he's not the serial killer."

"Oh God! Amanda!" Tony suddenly gasped. "It's V-day! Whoever this guy is, he's about to kill her! Tonight!"

"We need to call Gibbs!"

"Abs, you call him," Tony instructed immediately getting into the role of the leader. "McGee, with me!"

The two agents ran out of the lab and Abby grabbed her phone and hit Gibbs's number on speed dial. The phone rang, but he wasn't picking up. Her fingers were trembling and she accidentally hung up, so she redialed again, but his time the line was busy. She called him once more and this time there was a signal but he wasn't answering again. She waited and waited getting more nervous with every beep, until finally a mechanic voice informed her that the number she had dialed could not be reached.

**§§§**

Gibbs lay wide awake on the couch, unable to find rest despite the weariness spreading throughout him. Snuggled into his chest, Kate slept peacefully, the heat radiating from her body warming him better than the dying fire and the blankets wrapped around them.

Extending his hand he stroked her hair affectionately and reflected on everything that had happened within the last few hours.

He had hesitated before he invited her over, knowing that there was no force in the world that would stop him from kissing and touching her once they were alone. He didn't imagine though that things would go that far, but seeing the blissful expression gracing her features he regretted nothing.

Kate shifted in her sleep, wrapping her arms and legs tighter around him and he snuck a hand under the blankets and rubbed small circles across her back lulling her back into sleep.

She was so different from his past women, he thought, shorter, not very busty, and most obviously, dark-haired, not to mention her personality.

He had always been attracted to strong, resolute, confident women and Kate fit perfectly into that description, but unlike some of his exes, who wanted to be on top at all times, while in his arms, she turned from the fierce tigress she was at work into a sweet little kitten. It was new and unexpected, and surprisingly he loved it.

Remembering how she mewled and purred under him he felt himself grow hard again, and wondered if she would be up for a second round in the morning. Had it been for him, he would've taken her again right away, the long period of abstinence from sex making his need insatiable, but she was sleeping so calmly he didn't have the nerve to wake her up.

She needed the rest and he could use some too, but the sleep wouldn't come, so he just lay there playing with her long, dark hair and tracing with his finger every curve and edge of her body watching small goose bumps appear over her delicate skin under his touch.

All of a sudden his phone rang, waking Kate up, and she stirred in his arms, letting out a soft groan.

Gibbs stretched out and, with his head hanging upside down over the armrest, he looked around in search of his mobile, trying hard to ignore Kate's lips and hands roaming all over his chest.

"Just let it ring," she said and he gasped as she gently bit at his nipple.

She was definitely up for a second round, he thought, but then he finally spotted his phone discarded on the dining table.

Reluctantly, he got up and strode to the dining room, fully aware of Kate's eyes staring hungrily at his naked body. He grabbed the phone and picked it up without even checking the caller ID.

"This better be important!" he spat angrily into the speaker.

"Agent Gibbs!" cried out Amanda's voice. "Help me! Pleeeeeeeeeeease!" her yells were followed by rumbling sounds of a fight and then suddenly the line went dead.

**§§§**

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><p>AN: OMFG I can't believe I did this. This is the first thing I wrote since I was about 17 (I only wrote one single story back then), the first thing I ever wrote in english, and it's absolutely the first time I wrote fairly explicit sex and in all honesty, it was much harder than I would've ever expected, but hey, at least I didn't pull out an 'inner goddess' or any other similar crap, did I?


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: NCIS and all things related belong to CBS and Bellisario**

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><p><strong>HEARTKILL<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 9<strong>

Gibbs hit the brakes and the sedan screeched to a halt in front of a seven story building in Georgetown. He jumped out of the car followed by Kate and they ran for the entrance, never even noticing they had backup.

"Boss! Kate!" Tony and McGee exclaimed together when they all bumped into one another at the door.

"We got the wrong guy!"

"Amanda, she's-"

"I know!" Gibbs barked struggling with the front door that was obviously locked.

Tony shoved him aside, kneeled down and began to pick up the lock but it wouldn't give up.

"There's no time for that!" Gibbs pushed him away, aimed his Sig and shot the lock off.

They rushed inside and Gibbs run towards the elevator forgetting that it was out of order.

"Damnit!" he swore under his breath when the flashy yellow stripes blocked his way and headed for the stairs.

His heart raced as if it was about to break out of his chest as he climbed up, jumping two steps at a time followed by Tony, Kate and McGee. Eventually they got to the fifth floor where Amanda's friend's apartment was located, and trying to catch their breaths, they strode towards the last door on the left.

Everything was peaceful and silent and Gibbs felt a dead weight drop into his stomach when he thought that they could've been late.

The door was locked again, but this time Tony managed to pick up the lock in no time and they broke into the apartment, Gibbs and Tony up front, McGee and Kate securing the back.

There were evident signs of a struggle everywhere but the hall, the living and the kitchenette were clear. Cautiously they moved deeper inside, checking every door they came across. The first led to a closet, the next one to the bathroom, both empty.

They got to the third and last door and, signaling to the others to keep their guns in ready, Gibbs pushed it open and his eyes widened in horror.

Amanda's lifeless, half-naked body was laying on the bed and hovering above her, with his pants open and hands clasped around the girl's neck there was the killer.

As soon as the agents burst into the room, the man sprang up and ran towards the window, pulling up his zipper in the meantime.

"Freeze!" Gibbs yelled but he just glanced at him and jumped out

Tony shot to the window and peeked outside.

"There's a fire escape," he said to the others squeezing through the tight opening intent on following the killer.

"Take care of her!" Gibbs called to Kate and McGee and ran out of the apartment.

Kate immediately rushed to Amanda and checked her vitals.

"She's still alive," she gasped feeling a faint pulse on her neck. "McGee, call an ambulance!"

McGee was already dialing 911.

In the meantime Tony chased after the killer, making his escape down the fire ladder.

I need to start working out, he thought speeding down the wobbly iron steps.

The killer had a good advantage on him from the start, and he moved swift and fast, increasing the distance between them in no time. He jumped to the lowest platform and pulled out the ladder that reached the ground. Looking up at Tony, who was still two stories away, he began quickly descending the steps until his feet finally touched the concrete. Ready to make a wild run for it, he spun around only to face the barrel of a gun.

"Just give me an excuse," Gibbs hissed pointing his Sig Sauer directly into the man's forehead.

The killer didn't even twitch, he just stared back at him and Gibbs thought that there was something familiar about those dark eyes filled with loathing.

"Great timing boss!" Tony huffed, jumping off the ladder.

He pulled out his handcuffs and bound the killer's wrists behind his back smiling in vengeful satisfaction.

The high pitched howl of a siren cut the air and Gibbs let out a relieved sigh. If the ambulance was here, it meant Amanda could still be saved.

"No ID boss," Tony informed him after he'd searched the man's pockets.

"Who the hell are you?" Gibbs asked him.

The killer crossed his eyes looking to the gun pointed into his head, then focused back on Gibbs and he said with a creepy smile, "My name is Charles Bellinger."

**§§§**

_Sunday, February 15th 2004_

Tony and McGee snuck into Observation and joined Kate in front of the one-way glass.

On the other side Gibbs was just about to start the interrogation.

"Whether he confesses or not, he's busted," Tony commented. "You should've seen the stuff we found at his place."

"He had a file on each victim: names, addresses, occupations, detailed descriptions of their habits and surveillance photos," McGee added. "There were also several interesting files on his computer including copies of the photoshopped nude pictures."

"He had a few Azalea plants in his living and in the trash we found an empty box of one of those hair dyes that come off in one washing."

"Abby's processing it all as we speak."

In Interrogation, Gibbs lifted up his eyes from the dossier Kate had provided him to the man sitting at the other side of the table.

According to the file he was thirty-seven but he appeared older, probably because of his silver, most certainly dyed hair. He was wearing an old JAG uniform, one of its sleeves slightly torn, threads slipping out of decorative golden stripes. His full name was William Charles Bellinger and he was Charles Bellinger the JAG's only son.

"You know what," Gibbs shook his head. "I'm not gonna ask you about who did you kill and when, I just want to know why?"

He knew from experience that criminals, once they realized they were going in for it anyways, actually liked to talk. By asking Bellinger 'why?' he wanted to encourage him to share his story, even if, with all the evidence they had against him, a confession wasn't necessary. Moreover, he he was simply curious about what was going on in the mind of a person capable of such cruelty and perversion.

"Tell me Agent Gibbs, have you ever been to college?" Bellinger asked him unexpectedly.

"No, I haven't," Gibbs replied wondering where he was headed with this.

"Was it by your own choice?"

"Yes."

"Ah, choices," Bellinger sighed nostalgically. "They are a luxury not all of us can afford."

Gibbs didn't comment on it, just patiently waited for Bellinger to elaborate on the topic and eventually he did.

"Since I was born it had always been other people who decided about my life, about what I would eat, what I would wear, about what kids I would hang with, about what I would do the school project on. Even when I became adult, choices were still being made for me by others and I couldn't find the strength and the will to break free."

"It was my father who decided I would go to law school," Bellinger continued. "He imagined one day I would become a lawyer, perhaps even a JAG just like him. I did my best to pass exam after exam but I always hated it at Ohio State."

"That was where I met Jessica Thorne." There was that nostalgic tone in his voice again. "She was my first."

"Your first?" Gibbs inquired.

"Yes, my first love, and my first kill."

Gibbs squinted his eyes suspiciously. Could Bellinger Senior had actually been telling the truth?

"I fell for Jessica the moment I saw her. She was so beautiful with her long, blonde hair and blue eyes, perfect figure and flawless skin. She was a popular girl and I was well aware she'd never even notice a misfit like me."

"It must have hurt real bad when you found out she was seeing your father."

"It did," Bellinger agreed. "They didn't know it, but I had been been watching them from the very beginning. I was the one who tipped that jock, Wilkinson, but his reaction wasn't quite what I expected. I thought he'd get mad, but he just saw it as an opportunity to get some money out of my old man, but then I came up with another brilliant idea. I rigged Wilkinson's drink making him end up in a car crash and Jessica thought it was my father who did it. I saw them that night in the park when they fought about it and my old man strangled her and then just left. There was nobody around and she was just laying there, still such a beauty even in death, and I couldn't help myself from making love to her."

If you call raping a corpse 'making love', Gibbs thought clenching his jaw to contain a wave of nausea washing over him.

In the meanwhile Bellinger kept on telling his story, "It was amazing to be finally inside her, but then she began to stir and I realized everything was about to be ruined. That fool of my father had only knocked her out but I finished the job for him. Afterwards I meant to take Jessica with me but then I heard someone approaching and I ran to hide. It was a couple drunk sluts coming back from that party they had in the dorms and when they found my Jessie they called the police. The cops never got back to me though, they locked up some other idiot who raped her at the party."

"Tell me about Alicia Baker," Gibbs requested. "Did you 'love' her too?"

"I did," said Bellinger sadly. "She was the first girl I felt attracted to since I had lost Jessica. She had a boyfriend but I got rid of him the same way I got rid of Wilkinson and Alicia could finally be mine. Following my father's example, I managed to seduce her with expensive gifts and empty promises. She didn't fully understand my needs though, and in the end I lost her too."

More like murdered her too, Gibbs thought, doing his best to keep his composure.

"What about Patricia and Anna?" he asked Bellinger. "How did you feel about them?"

"They were meaningless to me. They were just a tribute I pay each ear to the memory of Alicia and Jessica, the two lost loves of my life."

Gibbs had heard enough. Without even looking at Bellinger he got up and left Interrogation.

**§§§**

"What a whacko," Tony mumbled, listening to Bellinger's confessions. "Not to mention this douchebag ruined our V-Day."

"More like V-Night," McGee laughed, "and in your case Tony, it was that Pam who ruined it in the first place."

"Yeah, Abby told me your date didn't go quite as you had hoped for," Kate teased him trying to distract herself from Bellinger who was making her sicker with every word he spoke.

"Yours surely did," Tony got back at her and licked his lips suggestively.

"I don't know what you're talking about DiNozzo," Kate spat at him.

"Probie, show me how good an investigator you are."

"Hmmm..." McGee looked Kate up and down and said, "Messed up hair, traces of smeared make-up, her shirt is buttoned up wrong too..."

"And she's definitely not wearing a bra," Tony added staring unceremoniously at her chest. "Bet she isn't wearing her panties either."

"Stop it you two!" Kate raged blushing furiously.

"You were having sex when Gibbs called you in," Tony nodded and flashed her a knowing smile.

"No, I wasn't! I was sleeping," Kate argued.

"Yeah, after having had sex," McGee joined in with Tony.

"Who's the lucky guy Katie?"

"That's none of your business!"

"Ah-hah!" Tony yelped victoriously. "So there is someone! Come on, who is he? Do we know him?"

Kate just clenched her jaw and sent his way a glare almost as deadly as Gibbs's.

Tony exchanged looks with McGee who smirked and indicated towards Interrogation. Puzzled, he squinted his eyes and glanced at Gibbs's back, then at Kate and then back at McGee. They younger agent nodded eagerly and smiled like crazy.

"No way!" Tony gasped but then he realized something.

Gibbs and Kate came to Amanda's in his car, but Gibbs wouldn't waste time picking Kate up at her place, if he were in a rush to save the girl, which meant they must have been spending the night together. Also, Gibbs's clothes were the same ones he was wearing during the day and his undershirt was missing which meant he must have been getting dressed in a hurry, and Tony knew him well enough to tell that had he been in his pajamas or working clothes, he wouldn't have cared to change.

"You slept with Gibbs?!" asked Tony incredulous.

Kate just gave him a hard stare as if to say 'don't even go there'.

"Oh my God! You did sleep with him!"

Next to them McGee was dying out of laughter at Tony's face.

"How was it Kate? Can he still...? You know..." Tony gesticulated to illustrate her what he meant.

Kate rolled her eyes annoyed, then she turned around and flashed Tony her best smile and said, "Tell me DiNozzo, do I look like an unsatisfied woman to you?"

Taking in Kate's wide grin and the sparkles in her eyes, Tony had to admit she looked nothing like unsatisfied, more like she's had the sex of her life.

"Having had three wives I bet the boss would know to please a lady," McGee commented struggling to control his laughter

"Shut it McExpert!" spat Tony angrily and then leaned closer to Kate and asked her confidentially, "Does he have a big one?"

Kate just flashed him an angry glare but the red on her cheeks was giving away her embarrassment, which incited Tony to tease her even more.

"Come on Kate! I'm just curious."

"I'll pretend you didn't ask that question."

"Where did you do it? On his boat?"

"How many times?"

"In what position?"

The two agents were so busy tormenting Kate that they didn't even notice a lone figure sneaking into Observation and then sneaking out a moment later.

FBI Special Agent Fornell got out of Observation fuming with rage and crashed with Gibbs coming out of Interrogation.

"Conference room! Now!" he yelled.

"Yeah, I need a word with you as well," Gibbs hissed and strode to the elevator.

They got into the metal box and when it moved half a floor up Gibbs switched the emergency stop.

"Why the hell did you call your man off?!" Gibbs raged.

"How could you fuck my Kate?!" Fornell shouted at the same time.

"WHAT?!" Gibbs couldn't believe he just heard what he thought he did.

"Right now McGee and DiNozzo are giving Todd the third degree about the size of your dick!" Fornell explained, seeing Gibbs's dumbfounded expression.

"I'm gonna kill them both," Gibbs muttered under his breath clenching his fists.

"And I'm gonna kill you!" Fornell fumed. "What the hell were you thinking sleeping with her you old prick!"

"I'm five years younger than you!"

"And twenty years older than her!

"Eighteen!"

"Same thing!"

"Kate's an adult and you're just her boss, not her father, so quit the drama!" Gibbs had had enough. "Focus on things that actually concern you, like Amanda's protection detail that you called off when you shouldn't have!"

"Todd said you had the killer in custody!" Fornell argued.

"I heard her tell you we were still running verifications about him! You should've kept your men in position at least until morning!"

"Don't blame everything on me! Hadn't the two of you been so absorbed in getting into each other's pants, you would've noticed you had the wrong guy!"

This time Fornell hit the mark. As much as Gibbs wanted to get back at the FBI agent, to chew on him for making the mistake of calling off Amanda's protection detail, a part of him knew Fornell was right.

Even if everything pointed out to Bellinger, his gut had been telling him something was off but he dismissed it, impatient to wrap up the case and finally spend some quality time with Kate. Perhaps if he hadn't been distracted with her he would've noticed something relevant and caught the real killer in time and Amanda would't be fighting for her life in hospital now.

He felt defeated but he was too proud to admit it. Instead he just clenched his jaw and turned the power back on. The elevator jerked back into motion and a minute later it stopped on the third floor.

"We didn't make any mistakes," Gibbs said through gritted teeth walking out into the squad room. "We only needed more time to get to the truth."

**§§§**

After searching half of the NCIS building, Kate finally found Gibbs laying on a slab in autopsy. She thought he was sleeping but when the automatic doors hissed letting her in he shifted and looked at her.

"Aren't you going home?" she asked quietly coming over to him.

He shook his head in reply.

She sat on the edge of the slab and looked at him with concern. She could see the rage, the frustration, the guilt lurking behind his eyes and wanted to say something to comfort him but couldn't find the right words.

"My house is open," he said staring at the ceiling, "in case you wanted to drop by and take your things."

She just nodded and got on her feet.

On one hand, she felt almost hurt by his cold demeanor, on the other, she understood that with everything that happened that night he simply needed time to process.

She walked back to the door but before she left, she turned around to look at him one last time and said:

"Don't blame yourself Gibbs. It won't change anything."

How could he not blame himself, Gibbs thought, watching Kate walk out of autopsy and into the elevator. He gained Amanda's trust and then he betrayed it by making her believe she was safe and letting that psycho get to her.

Several hours passed before Gibbs finally fell into slumber. When he woke up it was already morning, even if in the underground he could tell it only by the time indicated by his watch.

He got up and went to Abby's, passing by the men's rooms and getting himself decent on the way.

"What have you got?" he asked the goth coming into the lab and Abby instantly noticed how beaten up he sounded.

"I matched Junior's DNA to all the remaining samples we had and the facial recognition program matched his face to that of the guy in the surveillance video. The rest of the evidence like the plants, the uniform and the hair dye speak for themselves."

"Good job Abs." This time he had forgotten the Caf-Pow!

"Gibbs?"

"Hmm?"

Abby wrapped her arms around his waist hugging him and Gibbs hugged her back accepting the comfort she was offering him. He kissed her cheek affectionately and said, "Go home Abby, get some rest."

"You should do too Gibbs."

"I still have one place to go to."

After sending Abby home he drove to Bethesda to check on Amanda in hospital.

Her doctor informed him about the extension of her injuries and assured him that her life wasn't in danger. He also allowed for a short visit but insisted that Gibbs didn't bother his patient with questions. Gibbs agreed and was let into Amanda's room.

Sitting on the edge of her bed he whispered:

"I'm so sorry Amanda."

The girl opened her eyes and looked at him.

"Don't be," she said in a hoarse voice. "You saved me."

"You're laying in a hospital bed because I made a mistake."

"Hadn't it been for you I would be laying a couple floors down, in the morgue," she said squeezing his hand tighter. "Don't be too hard on yourself Agent Gibbs. We all make mistakes sometimes. It only proves we're human."

He just nodded and leaned down to place a soft kiss on her forehead.

What happened couldn't be undone but knowing she would recover and hearing her speak words of forgiveness made him finally find his closure.

**§§§**

_Friday, February 27th 2004_

Having finished his duties for the day Dr. Donald Mallard left autopsy and headed home. Passing across the dark, almost deserted squad room he noticed Gibbs sitting alone in the bullpen and staring at the empty desk in front of him. It had been happening quite often in the past two weeks and Ducky finally decided to confront his friend about it.

"Is there something bothering you Jethro?" he asked.

"It's nothing Ducky," Gibbs dismissed him shrugging his shoulders.

"Does that 'nothing' have a name?" Ducky kept on digging. "Caitlin perhaps?"

Gibbs looked up at Ducky who just smiled at him knowingly.

"Couldn't she just come to work here with me?" Gibbs said bitterly. "Everything would've been simpler then."

"Simpler? I think it would've been even more complicated." Ducky argued. "If she were your subordinate, she would've never dared confessing her feelings for you, and you'd have never let yourself act on yours."

"It would've been better that way. If I hadn't gotten involved with Kate, I could've found the killer in time. Our lack of professionalism almost cost Amanda her life."

"Stop making up excuses Jethro. None of us could've known we had the wrong person until Abby got the DNA results and she did pretty much the same time Amanda called you for help. Hadn't you been with Kate, you would've probably been spending Saturday night sanding your boat and the outcome would've been the same."

"Romance between agents never works Duck," Gibbs reminded him.

"You could've thought about it before you slept with her." There was a hard note in the ME's voice.

"She'll get over it," Gibbs shrugged it off.

"Don't you realize how she must feel?"

"I do, but I know that eventually she'll forget and move on. The break-up would've been much harder, if first we let the things between us unroll. I've been over this scenario three times Duck, so I know what I'm talking about."

"Oh Jethro," Ducky sighed tiredly. "I can imagine that three failed marriages must be discouraging but I think you shouldn't assume it from the start that your relationship with Caitlin will end up in failure as well."

"Why wouldn't it? How is this different from the other times?"

"I got the impression that you chose your ex-wives in base of something as trivial as their appearance which led you to make the same mistakes over and over again. With Caitlin it was different. I'm not saying that she isn't a beautiful woman, only that you seem to like her for more than just the color of her hair."

Gibbs dropped his eyes to his feet and smiled. Ducky was right, he chose his exes simply in base of their physical resemblance to Shannon but with Kate it was didn't go like that. He never even thought about comparing the two. For him Shannon had been perfect, but Kate was perfect too in her own way, and he felt like he wouldn't like her any less even if her hair was green.

"Give it a chance Jethro," Ducky encouraged him.

"I can't Duck," said Gibbs stubbornly. "I know I'm hurting her but I'm doing this for her own good. Kate's amazing and she deserves someone better than me."

"But she wants you."

"She wouldn't, if she knew what a bastard I was."

"Believe me Jethro, she does know," Ducky put a hand on Gibbs's shoulder, "but she is able to see through that facade you put up. Remember that, contrarily to your exes, Caitlin didn't fall for Jethro – the charmer, she fell for Gibbs – the jerk."

Ducky's comment made Gibbs chuckle but he had to admit there was truth to that. He never tried to trick Kate into believing he was a nice guy, like he had with his exes, but she seemed to like him anyways, and for the pain in the ass that he was.

"Trust me Jethro," Ducky told him. "Our Caitlin is very fond of you, much more than any of your ex-wives ever was, and in spite of your many flaws, and you would be the greatest fool if you let a wonderful woman like her go because of your insecurities."

**§§§**

Kate sat at the window and watched the rain pour over the streets of Washington. For the past few days the weather had been foul just like her mood.

She realized the V-Day killer case had quite an impact on Gibbs and she understood that he needed time to get over the events of that fateful night, but considering what happened between them she expected him to get back to her eventually. It had been almost two weeks since Valentine's Day and so far Gibbs didn't call her and Kate began to suspect he never would.

It wasn't her first one night stand and at least this time the sex had been really good, she thought in an attempt to comfort herself, but it didn't work. She still felt used and disposed of like an old toy and the worst thing of all was that she just missed the old bastard. She missed the sound of his voice, the touch of his hands, the taste of his lips, she just missed the way he made her feel.

She curled up in her armchair pulling the blanket tighter around herself and let a lone tear fall down her cheek.

Suddenly there was a loud banging on the door and she quickly wiped her face and went to check it out wondering who would come visit at this hour and with the storm raging outside.

She opened the door and felt struck dumb. There was Gibbs, standing in the doorframe, his clothes completely drenched, his soaked hair brushed up and droplets of water still glistening on his skin.

"Hi Kate," he said a bit shakily, trembling from cold.

"What are you doing here?" she spat at him, her pain turning into anger.

"I just..." He had en entire speech thought up but suddenly he forgot it all. "I just wanted to see you."

"Took you a while to make up your mind about it."

"Katie, I know it's been a few days but-"

"Two weeks Gibbs!" Kate didn't let him finish. "You didn't speak up for two damn weeks! I wasn't expecting much, a text would've been enough!"

"I can't text," he confessed embarrassed.

"Go figure!" Kate rolled her eyes. "Then you could've called!"

"I meant to but-"

"Apparently what we shared meant nothing to you!"

"It did, I just-" he tried to explain, but Kate cut him off again.

"I mean nothing do you!" she cried.

"Shut up finally!" Gibbs captured her face and crushed his lips on hers.

Kate hit at his chest in protest but Gibbs just wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer and blocking her movements like he had on Air Force One all those months ago. Kate gave up her struggle and slowly relaxed in his arms giving in to the pleasure. Their kiss softened and she felt Gibbs's grip on her loosen up and his hands move to cup her face again. He broke the kiss and pulled away just enough to look her in the eyes.

"I didn't call back because I thought you would've been better off without me," he told her. "I never meant to hurt you, I was only trying to protect you, but then I realized that I couldn't just let you go."

"You're still a bastard," Kate accused him.

"Yeah, I know," he admitted, "but I promise never to pull that crap on you again."

"You'd better not, cause if you do, I'll shoot you," she threatened.

"I have no doubts about that," Gibbs laughed.

"Wanna come in?" she asked him withdrawng towards the door. "I was about to make some dinner. Are you hungry?"

"Oh yeah," he nodded eagerly, following her inside the apartment, "but not for food." He pulled Kate flush agains him capturing her lips again and slammed the door.

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><p><strong>THE END<strong>

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><p><strong>Big thaks to everyone who faved, followed and review! Even biggest thangs for aconline for doing the beta read!<strong>

**If you enjoyed this story, make sure to check the next one in the series - "Bloodlines".**

**After an unexpected break-up with Gibbs a few months later, Kate goes visit a friend in a small town in Pennsylvania. In the meantime, the investigation of the death of a Petty Oficer leads the MCRT to the very samle place. ****When the two of them meet again, sparks fly, but there's also a case to solve and things arent't what they seem to be.**


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